Salamander of Alvarez
by insanemonkeyboy
Summary: Two first generation dragon slayers are dead. The other three, hunted by a magic council that wants them dead, fight to keep living. Someone is feeding the council information, but who? And will messing with fate win the day for darkness, or will the dragon slayers find a way to keep going? Eventual NatsuxIrene
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. They all belong to Mashima.

Ok... This is the last story I'll be starting for a while. Just wanted to get it out there because it keeps eating at me begging to be posted. o.O

This story will eventually pair Natsu with Irene, and depending on where canon goes with Irene's identity, it may also totally ignore canon Irene (shocking I know). So there's your fair warning.

I'll probably rate it M, just in case. Tends to give me a little more leeway with what I write and how it's written.**

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 **—x780—**

It was early in the morning as Gildarts Clive made his way through the forest surrounding the famous guild known as Fairy Tail. The sounds of creatures waking up rose all around him. Birds chirping. Squirrels chittering. Various other noises from woodland creatures that he would expect on such a still day.

But suddenly the noises stopped. Then came a familiar noise, but one that didn't belong to the woodlands normally. An explosion.

Without hesitating, Gildarts started running toward the sound. It wasn't coming from the guild, but it was close to another place that was important to him. Close to a place where a boy he saw as a son lived.

As he closed in, he saw flames. Lots of flames. Whatever was happening, Natsu was fighting seriously. But from the sound of it, his power wasn't enough.

"You had a lot of fight in you for a kid," a deep voice said. "But this ends now. Die!"

Gildarts burst from the trees just in time to send a counter spell toward the powerful greenish light that was shooting toward Natsu, who was on the ground looking badly beaten. His attacker was a tall man with long, reddish colored hair. He wore a black and crimson shirt, slightly baggy red pants, and a black cloak that hovered just above his ankles at the hem. Behind him, another mage, this one a female with purple hair streaked with black, was struggling to rise, obviously injured from the battle.

Gildarts spared a glance toward Natsu, and saw Happy on the ground behind him, unmoving. His anger boiled within him as he turned to the mages who would attack a child like this.

"I don't know who you are or why you're doing this, but you can explain when you wake up." He growled. The man threw another spell that looked pretty powerful at him, but he cancelled it easily, closing the distance between them and then striking the man hard. He instantly fell, unconscious. Gildarts then turned to the female, who held up her hands in surrender.

"GILDARTS!" Natsu yelled as he got up. "I could've taken 'em!"

"Of course you could have kid," Gildarts said with a grin. "But it's faster this way, and you don't have to destroy any more of your home."

Natsu looked around at the blackened and destroyed walls. Then looked back at Gildarts. "Fight me!" He said, charging him.

Gildarts sighed, defeating the kid with a single punch as usual. Then he bound the female and male mages who had attacked Natsu and checked Happy to see if he was still breathing. Upon confirming that the blue cat was alive, he slung the two attackers on one shoulder, Natsu and Happy on the other, and headed to the guild.

"Gildarts, you're back." Makarov greeted him first without looking up. Then, when his eyes did find their target, his jaw immediately hardened. "I assume you're about to explain this."

Gildarts just shrugged, offering his widest "I don't have a clue" grin. "Can't explain anything yet. Caught these two attacking Natsu in his home this morning, and from what I could tell they were trying to kill him."

The whole guild suddenly went quiet, and Gildarts realized that may not have been the best time to say that. Makarov sighed, shaking his head at him. "Get Natsu and Happy to the infirmary. We'll discuss this more in my office."

Gildarts just nodded, carrying Natsu and Happy into the infirmary and laying them on beds before heading to the guildmaster's office with his prisoners. Once inside, he threw them unceremoniously to the floor. The man didn't wake up, but the female struggled to sit up, her hands still bound behind her back.

"Well," Gildarts said to her. "I suggest you start explaining."

The woman just shrugged. "Sure, why not? Your little dragon slayer there's as good as dead anyway. You may have stopped us, but can you stop every dark mage in Fiore?" She said with a smirk.

This caught Gildarts' attention. "What are you talking about."

"Simple," the woman said, the smirk never leaving her face. "Your friend there has a huge bounty on his head. My advice to you is just let us kill him. Try to protect him and more people will die in the process."

"Who would put a bounty on a child?" Gildarts asked quietly, his fist clenched in anger.

"The bounty's in my bag," she motioned toward the bag on her back with her head. "See for yourself."

Makarov slowly made his way over to the bag, checking it for traps. Gildarts kept his focus on the woman. "If you're lying to us, you'll find us much less merciful than the council."

Makarov stood, his face grave as he looked at the paper. "I think that's more true than you know," he said, motioning for Gildarts to join him.

Gildarts frowned, coming over to look at the paper that Makarov had in his hand. "Those were distributed to every dark guild in Fiore," the woman said as he looked at the flyer.

The flyer was pretty simple, but what caught his attention was the script and the ink that was used. Even without testing it, he knew this couldn't be faked. The bounty was written on official council paper, using ink and a seal that could only come from the council. It was simple, but abundantly clear in its message, which he read aloud.

"The council is offering a reward of 1 million jewel and full immunity to anyone who can kill one of the following mages and bring us proof of their deaths:

Natsu Dragneel  
Sting Eucliffe  
Rogue Cheney  
Gajeel Redfox  
Wendy Marvell

Natsu Dragneel is known to be a wizard of the Fairy Tail guild. Gajeel Redfox is known to be a mage with Phantom Lord. Wendy Marvell is reported to be a wizard with the guild Caitshelter. Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney are currently unknown.

To claim your reward, bring proof that you have killed one of these individuals to the nearest council outpost. You will be granted full immunity from arrest for any prior crimes and given 1 million jewels. Remember that this immunity does not extend to future crimes that may be committed."

Gildarts looked at Makarov, surprised. "The council?! Why would the council order the deaths of wizards? Especially those who belong to legitimate guilds?"

Makarov was staring at the paper, his jaw clenched. "I don't know," he said quietly. "But I think it's time to have a conversation with Yajima."

 **~~~~~~In the infirmary~~~~~~**

Natsu woke up from the punch Gildarts delivered with a groan. "Man, if I hadn't already been injured I would've got him that time!" He said to nobody in particular.

He was about to go on, when his sensitive ears picked up a woman's voice from the direction of Makarov's office. He went over to the infirmary wall that was closer to the office, listening closely to see what was going on.

"Try to protect him, and more people will die in the process," somebody was saying. It sounded like the woman that attacked him at his hut earlier.

After following the rest of the conversation that ensued, Natsu didn't understand much. But he did understand two things. First, that for some reason this council that gramps was always harping about wanted people to kill him. Second, that if he stuck around, his friends would die. He also heard a bunch of other names, but only two with locations.

Making his decision quickly, Natsu went as quietly as he could to Happy. He then picked up the still-unconscious cat and hurried out of the back of the infirmary as quietly as he could. His next move would be to find the two people on the council hit list that had known locations and warn them. Perhaps they would even come with him.

 **~~~~~~Makarov's office, half an hour later~~~~~~**

"I don't know why the bounty was issued Makarov," Yajima responded. "If I did, I'd tell you. The order came from the chairman, though. And I must assume that he had a reason for it."

"Reason or not," Makarov replied angrily, "Natsu is still a child. A child who hasn't done anything wrong. How many of the others on this list are children?"

"All of them," Yajima replied simply. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I will. There's one other thing that all of those wizards have in common. They all use a lost magic. That is to say, more specifically, they're all dragon slayers."

"Dragon slayers?" Makarov hissed, lowering his voice a little instinctively. "Then why wasn't Laxus targeted?"

"Because Laxus' dragon slayer abilities are a result of a lacrima." Yajima replied. "The 5 on that list all learned their dragon slayer abilities, they claim from a dragon. As for why they were targeted, I don't know. I only know that it has something to do with Zeref."

Makarov was about to ask more questions, but the councilman cut him off. "I have to get to the council meeting, or people will become suspicious. Before I go, I warn you not to speak a word of this to anyone. If the council suspects that anyone outside knows of this, they won't hesitate to retaliate against you themselves. So for once, Makarov, please listen to my advice and don't get involved any further. If not for your own sake, for the sake of your guild. Goodbye Makarov, Gildarts." With that the communication cut off and he was gone.

"So what now?" Makarov turned to Gildarts when the question was asked. He knew the question held much more than it seemed to on the surface. Gildarts was asking if they were ready to do what it took to protect Natsu. To go head to head with the council if that was necessary.

"We tell the guild," Makarov said after a few minutes of hesitation. "I don't want to see anyone hurt, but nobody's laying a finger on one of our family without good reason."

Gildarts nodded, and together they headed out of the guild master's office. The guild was unusually quiet, as though they could sense that there was a problem. Makarov moved slowly to a position at the bar.

"Hey brats," he said. "Listen up. There's something that you all need to hear."

The murmurings and small conversations ceased. Erza and Mirajane even stopped butting heads to turn and listen to what the guild master had to say. Makarov looked over all of them, a serious expression on his face.

"One of our own is in grave danger," he said. "We don't know all the details, but the council has put out a bounty to all the dark guilds in Fiore. A bounty for the deaths of 5 people." He took a deep breath before continuing. "One of those 5 people is Natsu Dragneel."

Surprised shouts, gasps, and expressions of disbelief followed his statement. He waited a few moments for the commotion to die down before continuing. "The council officially denies any connection to this bounty, so you can't tell anybody about this or it will put us in even more danger. However, we need to keep tabs on Natsu at all times. Even when he's sleeping. I want our strongest mages to team up and figure out a plan to protect Natsu."

"I'll watch his house at night," said both Erza and Mirajane simultaneously. Then they both glared at each other.

"No way, you bully him just to tell him how 'cute' it is when he cries," Erza shouted at Mirajane.

"Says the disciplinarian who's always 'punishing' him for doing what boys do," Mirajane retorted loudly.

Makarov couldn't help but chuckle. Despite their differences, Erza and Mira both had been quite close to the dragon slayer, though of course not as close as Lisanna. If she were counted among the strongest mages, there was no doubt she'd be the first in line to watch him while he slept. However, now was not the time for fighting.

"Enough," he said. "Erza, go to the infirmary and see if Natsu's awake yet. Mirajane, Laxus, and Gildarts need to come with me."

"Tch. What a pain." Huffed Laxus as he reluctantly came over with Mirajane, who scowled at him in response to his attitude. Makarov started to lead them into his office when a shout from the infirmary entrance stopped him cold.

"Natsu's gone!" Erza's voice was almost panicked, and Makarov felt the same sense of dread invading him as he turned to face her.

"Change of plans," he said grimly. "Everybody spread out now. We have to find him."

 **~~~~~~Phantom Lord, Guild Hall~~~~~~**

"Tch, what a pain…" Jose scowled as he put the bounty down. He'd pulled it off a few dark mages who underestimated the guild's strongest up and coming wizard. Gajeel Redfox.

He then turned to the element 4 and Gajeel, who were alone with him on the top floor of the guild now.

"Yeah, it's only a matter of time before more of these losers show up," Gajeel growled. "But I don't care. I'll knock out every fucking dark mage in Fiore if I have to."

"I had such high hopes for you too…" Jose lamented as he turned to Gajeel. "But you have now become a burden. Begone!" He threw one of his most powerful spells at him.

He was shocked to see Juvia push Gajeel out of the way at the last moment, his spell slicing through her water body and not harming her at all. He ground his teeth.

"You would dare defy me?" He said to the water mage. "Then you can die with him!"

But before he could launch his next spell, Gajeel picked up Juvia and ran. The others from Element 4 did nothing to stop him.

"What are you doing?" Jose yelled as he started after Gajeel, who had just jumped out the window with Juvia. "After them!"

None of them moved, pissing him off further. "You're all going to defy me?! Don't you know I have the power to kill you all?!"

"Why does it matter?" Totamaru said sadly. "He won't come back to the guild. Just banish him and put word out that he is no longer associated with us, and there will be no more attacks."

Jose stopped. The fire mage did have a point. If he did it that way he would only lose Gajeel and Juvia. If they went after him, he might still escape, and that would make the guild look bad. Yes… banishment seemed like the best way to go.

 **~~~~~~Caitshelter~~~~~~**

"Wendy, run!"

The old men in the guild were engaging the dark mages, but even with their combined strength they were being overcome.

"I can't leave you," Wendy sobbed. The young girl somehow knew that the dark mages wanted more than just a battle. And apparently the old men did too.

"You have to leave. We can't hold them off forever, but we can give you a good head start. Just run!" The old man repeated, turning to face her. "If these men catch you, they will kill you! I can see the intent in their hearts!"

Tears still in her eyes, Wendy took another step toward the fray. "I can't!"

But before she could advance any further, she felt a small pair of paws grasp her and she was pulled into the air, out of the fray and away from the guild.

"NO CARLA!" She yelled, struggling in the cat's grip. "We can't leave them to fight alone!"

"We can't defeat them child," the cat's voice sounded sorrowful. Something she'd never from her before. "The old men are right. The only way for you to live is to get out of here."

"But what about them?" Tears were still streaming from Wendy's eyes.

"Chances are they won't die," Carla said. "If the men were after you, as we were told, then there's no reason for them to kill anyone else."

Wendy slowly stopped struggling, realizing it was useless to argue and that Carla was right. "What are we going to do then, Carla?" She asked, feeling the tears begin to come as she no longer had anything else to focus on.

"I don't know, child…" Carla sighed. "I don't know…"

 **~~~~~~Council Chambers~~~~~~**

Yajima sat anxiously as he waited for the chairman to arrive. The meeting was supposed to start an hour ago, but from the time that he cut his communication with Makarov, the entire council had just been sitting, waiting for the chairman, who had been using his archive to monitor the situation in Fiore.

When he finally did come in, his face was grave. It was apparent that whatever the current status was he was very unhappy with the way things turned out. Yajima had to hold back a smile as he thought Fairy Tail was a good portion of the reason for that.

"Members of the council," he said quietly. "The situation is graver than we realized. It is as though fate herself stands against our plans. Of the 5 dragon slayers, only 2 were successfully hunted down. Their heads were brought to me by Brain of the Oracion Seis and Zancrow of Grimoire Heart. These two mages were Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney."

He then paused before continuing. "The other wizards, whose locations were already known, were failed quests. An attack against Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail failed early this morning. Gajeel Redfox fended off his attackers, and word has just been released that he was banished after fleeing his guild with one of his guild mates. Our agents received a report that Wendy Marvell also escaped the attempt on her life, aided by her guild who held off the large number of attackers long enough for her to disappear with a flying cat."

His eyes scanned the room. "Many of you have questioned why we were targeting children. I didn't want to reveal this to you because this information is potentially dangerous, but I feel that to get everyone on the right path I need to tell you why we are targeting dragon slayers. We have received a reliable report that one of these dragon slayers, the ones who learned their magic from actual dragons, contains something evil. In fact, Zeref himself used one of them to hide the most powerful and most evil of his creations right under our noses."

Yajima stood at this, his eyes widening in shock. "Are you saying that E.N.D. is hidden in one of those children that we put bounties out on?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," the chairman replied. "In fact, there's a very good chance that one of those children _is_ E.N.D."

"Who is your source?" Yajima demanded. "Information like that isn't easily obtained or verified. What makes you think he's even telling the truth?!"

"The source's name is insignificant," the chairman replied. "What's important is that he gave us information that was verifiable. We know for certain he was telling the truth."

"If his information's so good, why didn't he just tell you who E.N.D. is?" Yajima countered.

"He didn't know. He only knew it was one of the first generation dragon slayers. Those who didn't get their powers from a lacrima."

"How did he know that?" Yajima asked. "This informant seems to have a lot of vague information."

The councilman sighed. "Alright. I will explain everything to you. When I'm done, you'll see how it all fits together."

"First, what do we know about E.N.D.? Not much, right? He's a fire demon. He's Zeref's most powerful demon. But nobody's ever seen him. They've only heard of him."

"The assumption is that E.N.D. is sealed with a powerful spell, and that's why he hasn't been heard from. But in 400 years of history since the dragon wars, not one account exists where E.N.D. is actually seen or known. It's almost like he doesn't even exist, or, perhaps, like he didn't exist for those 400 years."

The council man then looked directly at Yajima. "And this is where we found our verification. The first generation dragon slayers come from a time when dragons still lived and roamed earthland. They were transported through time and space by Zeref's magic to arrive in our time, 3 years ago. July 7, x777, when every dragon slayer says their dragon 'disappeared.' That is the day they arrived from the past. All this information has been verified."

"Even so," Yajima said, "How can you be certain that E.N.D. was among those dragon slayers? All this proves is that these children were transported to an age in which they don't belong."

"It is also proven that they were transported by Zeref's magic. Which means that Zeref must have had an active role in selecting them. What better way to ensure the survival of his most powerful demon through the dragon wars than to make him a dragon slayer and transport him to the future? Everything else that our source has said has been verified. Once we have killed all the dragon slayers, E.N.D. will emerge from one of them, and verify that as well."

Yajima scoffed. "So we're going to kill a bunch of children just based on this one man's word?"

The chairman looked gravely at him. "Believe me, councilman, this pains me as well. But E.N.D. is an evil beyond all our imaginations. If he is unleashed, far more will die than these 5. Better to destroy four innocent children than for all the children in Fiore to die because we failed to act."

"We could wait until E.N.D. reveals himself," Yajima countered, hearing the anger in his voice but not caring. "This is something we should have discussed before putting out a bounty on those dragon slayers!"

"There's no time!" The chairman slammed his fist down on the table. "If we wait for Zeref's creations to be ready to move, we can be sure that we will suffer defeat at their hands. You will not defy the will of the council on this, Yajima! It is far too important."

Yajima scowled, but slowly sat back down. He could see from the faces of the other members that this was a battle he would lose. Better to save the fight for important matters at a later time.

"Now that that's settled," the chairman said, folding his hands in front of him, "We need to track down the three that remain. They won't be easy to find. Chances are that they took to the wilderness, staying away from towns or cities. But children will have difficulty surviving in the wilderness. Sooner or later they will have to come close to a town, and when they do, we'll be waiting for them."

Yajima just sat quietly as the murmuring continued around the table. Perhaps the council would be waiting, but he would make sure that there was a network of underground wizards waiting too. Waiting to help the dragon slayers escape the council's watchful eye. Because no matter how dangerous the obstacle they faced, killing innocents should never be an option, even to try to save lives.

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So there's chapter 1. Read and review - preferably in that order xD


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Fairy Tail or the Characters. Those all belong to Mashima.**

 **So here's chapter 2 of this story. Had more response than I initially expected, so I figured I'd at least give it a little progress before going back to my regular rotation.**

 **Had a few people ask about Sting and Rogue. It's not that I dislike their characters. I already planned on two slayers dying. Originally, I thought maybe Rogue and Gajeel (so we could kill off that whole homo fanboy thing they had going on there), but Gajeel already died in another story I'm writing, and I didn't feel like killing him off in two stories. Additionally, Sting and Rogue were the youngest slayers aside from Wendy, and as far as we know they didn't really have anyone to protect them at the time. Which kind of brings up the question... Can Lector and Frosch Fly? But I digress.**

 **Anyway, all that to say... Chapter 2 is here. This story may move into a more Gajeel/Natsu centric story and I'm kicking around the idea of pairing Gajeel (initially) with Sorano. Let me know what you think.**

 **Anyway, here's chapter 2. Read and review!**

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Natsu sighed, pushing a large leaf aside as he meandered through the forest northeast of Fairy Tail. It had been 3 days since the attack on his home near Fairy Tail, and the dragon slayer was headed for the only place he thought might offer safe haven from the council. The coast.

If he'd just taken the train, he could've been there already. But this was a better plan. Someone on a train might recognize him, of course. It had nothing to do with the way those death traps made his stomach feel. He was just being cautious. Which was precisely why he was justifying it to himself right now.

"Natsu, I'm hungry…"

The cat's whiny voice, combined with the noise his own stomach was making right now, reminded him of their current predicament. No guild meant no Jewels. And even if he had Jewels, he couldn't go to town to spend them. Well, any more than the few he'd brought with him. The few that he hoped would be enough to buy a ship out of Fiore. A harbor town should be pretty safe, right? Sure, there was a chance his presence would get out to dark guilds that received the council's bounty orders, but he should be safely away from harbor by then.

"I want a fish Natsu!" Happy yelled from behind him.

"Happy, shut up!" Natsu said, turning back toward the cat as he continued to walk through the forest. "You've done nothing but complain about being hungry all day –oof!"

Despite the unexpectedness of his collision, Natsu was able to catch the figure he ran into, a young girl with long, blue hair, before she hit the ground, cushioning her from the blow with his own body. They lay there for a minute, the girl's eyes wide as she stared at him, before she suddenly jumped up, bowing respectfully.

"I'm sorry!" She apologized, her wide brown eyes looking at him as he got to his feet.

"It's my fault really," Natsu said with a grin. "I was so distracted I didn't even notice ya coming."

"Wendy, who is this ruffian?!" Natsu turned to see a white cat emerging from the trees behind the girl. The cat wore a cute little bow on her tail, and her face seemed permanently set in a disapproving frown.

"I-I don't know Carla," the girl stuttered. "I just ran into him…"

"Of course you did. But we don't have time for this now. We need to get to the coast."

Natsu blinked, looking at them. "You're going to the coast?"

Wendy nodded shyly. "Carla thinks we should leave Ishgar for a while…"

"Cool!" Natsu grinned. "We're headed to the coast too! Maybe we can travel together!"

"Umm. I don't know if that's a good idea," Wendy said, digging her toes into the ground as she stared at Natsu's feet.

"Why not? It'll be fun," Natsu said, grinning. He would really enjoy some traveling company besides Happy. And besides, the girl smelled kinda' like a dragon. He wanted to ask her if she knew Igneel.

"Of course it's not a good idea!" Carla snapped. "What are you thinking Wendy? You don't even know this person! He could be an enemy!"

"Oh right, I'm Natsu. Natsu Dragneel." Natsu offered her a toothy grin. "And I'm not your enemy."

Then he remembered that he was on the run, and realized that he couldn't bring this young girl into it, even if she did smell like a dragon. "But on second thought, the cat's right. We shouldn't travel together."

"Why not?!" Happy yelled. Natsu turned to see the cat holding out a fish to a very unimpressed Carla. "I want to travel with Carla!"

"Because you don't want Carla to be in danger," Natsu replied, wondering how the cat who was usually smarter than him could miss something so obvious. "So let's go." He turned to Wendy and bowed. "It was great meeting you Wendy. Maybe I'll see you around someday." He then turned, heading off into the forest with Happy following him dejectedly.

"WAIT!" Natsu turned to see Wendy running after them, but just before she got to him she tripped again, causing her body to come crashing into him. He managed to catch her and steady her without losing his own footing.

"Th-thanks," she said, blushing slightly. Then she looked up, a determined look in her eyes. "I want to travel with you to the coast."

Natsu frowned. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that. There are some really bad people chasing us, and I can't let you get caught up in this."

"We're running away too. We don't know who, but somebody's trying to kill me." Wendy said.

Natsu's eyes widened as he looked at the little girl. So that's why she smelled like dragons. "Are you a dragon slayer?"

"Yes," Wendy said, and at that moment seemed to realized that she was still in the same position she was when her body crashed into his. She jumped back, blushing and looking at her toes. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize," Natsu replied with a grin. "But I wanted to ask, have you seen Igneel?"

"Igneel?" Wendy looked up at him, her big brown orbs wide. "Who is Igneel?"

"He's a dragon!" Happy said before Natsu could answer, and he turned to glare at the blue cat.

"You mean like Grandeeney?!" Wendy exclaimed, looking at Natsu. "Are you a dragon slayer too? Have you seen Grandeeney?!"

Natsu shook his head. "I'm a dragon slayer, but I don't know Grandeeney. Igneel was my dad, but he disappeared on July 7, x777."

"That's the same day Grandeeney disappeared!" Wendy exclaimed in surprise. "I just woke up and she was gone."

"Really?!" Natsu couldn't help wondering if it was related. Did their dragons know each other? Maybe they were, like, dragon mates or something. "And she didn't tell you anything about it?"

Wendy shook her head. "Nothing. I just remember waking up expecting to see Grandeeney like every other day, but she wasn't there."

Natsu pondered that for a few minutes. Their dragons both disappeared on the same day, both without speaking a word to them. There had to be a connection there somewhere! If only they could find more people who were dragon slayers… Perhaps there were more right here in Ishgar! Yes, that was it. He would search Ishgar till he found—

Wait. Magic council. Dark guilds. No, he couldn't search Ishgar for more dragon slayers. He had to get out of Ishgar as soon as possible.

"Wendy, if you're coming with us I need to tell you something," he said seriously. "Happy and I are leaving Ishgar, probably for good. As long as we're here, we'll be a target for every dark guild in the country. And anybody with us will be too."

"What? Why?" Wendy looked taken aback.

"I dunno," Natsu said with a shrug. "All I know is I heard gramps say the council was after a bunch of people, including me, a few other guys, and…" Suddenly his mind registered who he was talking to. "Wendy?"

"What is it Natsu-san?"

"Your name," Natsu said, his eyes suddenly wide at the realization. "It was on the list of people the council wanted to kill!"

"What?!" Carla shrieked. "Why would the magic council want to kill Wendy?!"

"I dunno," Natsu said. "But I overheard gramps and Gildart talking about it. They captured the assassin that tried to kill me and she had some piece of paper or something with our names and a few others on it and something about the council paying people to kill us."

"The magic council?" Wendy looked as though she were about ready to faint.

"That's why I gotta' get to the coast!" Natsu said. "If we can get on a ship before any dark mages figure out where we are, we'll be beyond the council's reach."

Carla shook her head slowly, looking a little shell-shocked herself. "The council's reach goes farther than you imagine. If we want any hope of escaping them our best bet would be to go to the country that is the enemy of Ishgar. The Alvarez Empire."

"Alvarez?!" Natsu looked at the cat, confused. "Where is that? And why are they the enemy of Ishgar?"

Carla sighed. "Alvarez tried to invade Ishgar once, but they were stopped by the council's secret weapons. They're considered an enemy because, even though they haven't been hostile, the only thing holding them back is probably the knowledge that these weapons still exist in Ishgar…"

"So are they, like, the bad guys?" Natsu asked, wondering why they would want to go join a country that was the enemy.

"It's not as simple as that, buffoon," Carla responded, her voice sounding irritable. "Just because Alvarez and Ishgar are enemies doesn't mean that Alvarez mages are bad. It just means they don't like Ishgar for some reason, or they want something we have."

"Well, whatever," Natsu said with a shrug. "As long as it means we won't have to look over our shoulders for dark mages…"

"About time you see it my way," Carla said, turning her nose up.

"So this means I get to travel with Carla?!" Happy exclaimed with a huge grin.

"Hmph." Carla walked over by Wendy, turning her back pointedly on the blue cat. "Only because we'll be safer traveling together."

"Let's go!" Natsu said. "We don't have any time to waste!"

 **~~~~~~Gajeel~~~~~~**

"Damn that was tough!" Gajeel lay panting on the forest floor, a good distance from civilization. How the damn redhead calling himself 'Cobra' managed to sniff him out he didn't know, but it had been one hell of a fight. One that he'd only been victorious in by a sheer accident. Now Cobra was unconscious. Gajeel was debating whether to kill him or leave him unconscious.

"He's bound to be trouble when he wakes up." He said to himself as he forced his body to stand up. "I should just get rid of him so he can't report back to whoever sent him."

With his mind easily made up, he then used his iron dragon sword, swinging it swiftly in the blow that would sever the poison dragon slayer's head from his body.

But suddenly the ground around Cobra became liquid, wrapping itself loosely around him and deflecting the blow at the last instant. Gajeel turned instantly, cursing himself for letting his guard down, and felt his heart drop. He was already exhausted, and now he was faced with 5 more opponents. All of them looked pretty powerful in their own right.

The first was a girl with mid-length white hair. She had what looked like a couple of keys on her belt. She wore a white dress that was all feathery and shit in the back and left her ample boobs almost entirely exposed with its neckline. There was also a guy who looked, well, blocky for lack of a better description. A blonde with a red and white suit, a person with black hair who looked somewhat feminine but smelled very masculine, and some other brown-skinned dude with tattoos on his neck and face. Well fuck. Things couldn't get much worse than this, could they?

I would appreciate it if you didn't kill my dragon slayer," the brown-skinned man spoke. "It would be fairly difficult to replace him."

"Replace your fake-ass dragon slayer?" Gajeel said with a sneer. "Shouldn't be that hard. But either way, he was trying to kill me."

"At my command," the man replied. "But perhaps we should start over. I'm Brain of the Oracion Seis. Cobra was ordered to kill you if he could, but only because I wanted to see if you were worth bringing on to our team."

"Me, join a dark guild?" Gajeel scoffed.

"Why not?" Brain asked, quirking an eyebrow at him. "You certainly have no refuge in so-called legitimate guilds anymore. The very council that decides whether a guild is legitimate or not has put a bounty out on your head."

"So how do I know you won't just kill me in my sleep?" Gajeel asked.

In the blink of an eye a beam of dark energy tore through the earth inches to his right. "I could kill you right now if I wanted," Brain said menacingly. "As could any of my generals. In your current state you would not even be a match for Angel." His tone relaxed slightly, as well as his posture, as he continued. "But that isn't what I want. The council's bounty means nothing to me. I could get as much money as I want when I want, and I have no interest in being a legitimate guild. But that doesn't mean that I had no use for someone the council wants dead. Basically, I need you to be my failsafe. In exchange, your power will be enhanced, and you will be given a new name. Of course, you'll also need a new face. We can't have people recognizing you and coming after the bounty after all."

"Tch." Gajeel looked away, trying to appear unimpressed. He couldn't argue with the fact that he had no hope of being part of a light guild now. And, of course, there was safety in numbers. With a powerful dark guild around him he stood a much better chance of evading the council. "What do you mean by failsafe?" He finally asked.

Brain chuckled grimly. "There is another personality sealed away inside me. A personality that is interested in nothing but destruction and death. That personality is extremely powerful, and it would be bad for the world if he were to get loose. Right now, he is sealed away with six prayers. My own prayer, and the prayer of the others you see before you. If all six of us are defeated, he will emerge…"

"That's where you come in. I want you to be a second seal, activated when all six of us fall. This seal will grant you a portion of Zero's power, which will double or even triple your magic power when the six of us fall. In this way, Zero can still be contained, and you can eliminate whoever threatens us so that we may awaken again and the first seal may be reinstated."

Gajeel thought about it. So he tied himself to this guild and sealed this guy's ultra-evil personality away, and in return he got a guaranteed power boost every time the first seal failed. Sure. What was the drawback?

"What's to stop me from killing all of you to get the power seal for myself?" He asked with a smirk.

Brain responded with a smirk of his own. "When you perform the sealing spell, Zero will have enough influence over you that you won't even try to do that."

Gajeel thought about it, then shrugged. What better option did he have at this point?

None. Definitely none.

"Alright, I accept your offer."

So Gajeel Redfox became part of the Oracion Seis.

 **~~~~~~Several days later, in the Alvarez Empire~~~~~~**

"We made it!" Natsu gasped, panting as he lay sprawled out on the ground. Wendy had a neat spell called Troia that worked for a while on the ship, but for the greater portion of their journey to Alvarez he had to endure the motion sickness.

"What do we have here? Strange mages washing up on my shores?" At the sound of the melodic, but slightly sadistic voice behind him, Natsu instantly jumped to his feet, flames encompassing his hands. He looked up to see a woman. Someone who looked to be in her early 20s, and somehow looked, and smelled, quite familiar. She had long, scarlet hair, an oversized black hat, and wore a black and red outfit that revealed a good portion of her body which Natsu, who was just entering his teenage years, couldn't help but notice. A loincloth-styled bottom draped teasingly, just covering her female parts, with her wide hips and slender waist on display for anyone to see. Her top covered the upper portion of her sizable breasts, and wrapped down underneath her boobs almost down to her belly button, not leaving much to the imagination. Her eyes were both harsh and playful, and if Natsu had to guess slightly…. Intrigued?

"Ah, so you are dragon slayers." The woman put a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "But what are you doing? Why have you come to Alvarez?"

"We're just visiting," Natsu said, eyeing her warily. How the fuck did she know they were dragon slayers? "But if we like it enough we may stay here permanently."

Suddenly a sword appeared out of nowhere and struck the ground next to Natsu hard. It was so fast that he knew he never would've had time to dodge had she aimed the attack directly at him.

"I dislike being lied to," she said, her eyes hardening as she stared at him. "Now I suggest you answer my questions quickly and without deception. Otherwise I'll kill the girl who's next to you."

"Now, why are you in Alvarez? I can see enough to know that you are scared. So answer me."

Natsu sighed in defeat. There was no way he could match her in battle, and apparently lying to her about their purpose wouldn't work either. "We're running from the council," he said quietly.

"The council? The magic council of Ishgar? Why would two young dragon slayers be running from them?"

"Because the council wants all dragon slayers dead," Natsu said honestly. "They put a bounty on our heads, and we know we won't be able to beat everyone who comes after us."

"A bounty?" The lady before them looked off, her eyes becoming distant. "Could they have discovered _that_?" She said quietly.

"Discovered what?" Natsu asked.

The woman's eyes instantly snapped back to him. "I'm the one asking the questions now. But I suppose we should probably introduce ourselves before continuing. I'm Irene Belserion, one of the Emperor's personal guard. Everyone who comes and goes from Alvarez is my business. Especially wizards. Now. Next question. What are your names?"

"I'm Natsu Dragneel, and this is Wendy." Natsu said motioning toward Wendy.

"Dragneel?" Natsu was surprised to see Irene's eyes widen when she heard his name. "Did you say your last name was Dragneel?"

"Yeah," Natsu said, even more confused. Did somebody else have that name? He'd certainly never heard it before.

Now she seemed to no longer be paying attention to him again. For several long minutes she stared off into the distance somewhere as though attempting to come to a decision.

"Alright," she said finally, her eyes snapping back to them as she spoke. "I've made my decision. I'll teach you to use your magic better, and in return you'll serve me."

Natsu sweat-dropped. "How can you teach us to use dragon slayer magic? Our dragons taught us the magic, and nobody else can use it. And why would we want to serve you?"

Irene just smirked. "The answer to both your questions is fairly simple. First, though it may be hard for you to believe, I know the magic better than anyone. You'll just have to take my word for that for now. For the second. There are many reasons, but I think perhaps there is one that might interest you most of all. I can offer you the strength to surpass everyone. I can promise you that in 7 years you will surpass even the so-called strongest 'Wizard Saint,' Serena, or as you weaklings from Ishgar call him, god Serena."

"Of course, there are plenty of other reasons. For instance, my only other option right now is to either kill you or put you in prison. Now that I know who you are I can't very well just let you run free in Alvarez. I could force you to serve me, but it's much more fun if you do it of your own free will."

Natsu couldn't help noticing the sadistic edge to her tone, as well as the glint in her eyes, as she spoke. This woman gave him the creeps. But still, she offered him the power to not be afraid of anyone ever again, and somehow he knew she could back it up. Besides, he may not care much about his life, but he couldn't just let Wendy die here. He nodded slowly, his eyes rising to meet hers.

"I'll agree on one condition… That you're not too hard on Wendy."

Irene looked surprised at the request, but just shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. She's just an added bonus in this deal. To think I would find the brother of Lord Zeref on the very shores of this empire…"

"Brother of Zeref?" Natsu's mind began to swirl. Wasn't Zeref some ancient black mage or some shit like that? What could she be talking about?

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" Irene actually laughed. "Forget about it, young dragon slayer. All you need to remember now is that you and the girl serve me. And I can't have weaklings under me. Tomorrow you start your training." He saw the sadistic glint in her eye as she added, "and believe me when I tell you, you won't enjoy it one bit."

Natsu gulped at the evil smile that accompanied this declaration, wondering what he had gotten himself into. Nevertheless, he followed her as she departed, motioning for him to come. Behind him Wendy, Happy, and Carla also came along. There wasn't a word spoken among the lot. No jokes from Happy. No reprimands from Carla. Apparently all of them could feel the weight of their position.

But Natsu made a determination right there. He'd given his word, so he would serve Irene. But if she ever gave him an order that went against his conscience, he would die before carrying it out.

* * *

 **And there we have it. What will happen next? Honestly, I still haven't decided yet. I might go through some of the details of the training that Natsu and Wendy go through. Or I might time skip a few years so they're a little older... I'm not 100% sure, to be honest. But I'll figure it out by the next chapter.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think about the whole Gajeel/Sorano thing. Ciao**


	3. Chapter 3

****DISCLAIMER** I don't own Fairy Tail. Mashima does! **DISCLAIMER****

So here's chapter 3. This obviously isn't a "Natsu instantly overpowers Irene and turns into an orgasm-inducing machine" fic, so I've attempted to make their early interactions as reasonable for their characters as possible. So just a warning for all of you readers.

Other than that, I really need to go back and update a few older fics after this so people know they're still alive. Read and review plz!

* * *

 **-x783-**

"Come on little girl. Is that really all the magic power you can conjure up?"

Wendy growled in frustration, her hands dropping to her sides in exhaustion. That was by far the most damage her sky dragon roar had ever done! Wasn't anything good enough for this woman?

She quickly pushed her feelings inside, though. She would rather struggle on than face the possibility of Lady Irene's 'corrections.' She shuddered as she remembered the one time she'd had to face the sadistic woman's punishment. It was a memory neither her mind nor her body could erase.

She was actually surprised that she wasn't punished after that, since Lady Irene often seemed disappointed or displeased with her progress. Still, she was grateful for that at least. She could put up with a little more physical exhaustion if it meant forestalling Lady Irene's wrath.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Try it again!" The voice was sharp, impatient even. Wendy, realizing she'd sunk to her knees in exhaustion, jumped to her feet, her heart pounding with adrenaline. She needed to act before her tutor decided she needed punishment again!

Putting everything she had into her attack, she unleashed a sky dragon's talon on the mountain that Lady Irene's magic had just raised from the ground. She barely had enough energy left to lift her head and see the results of the attack, but when she did, she couldn't help feeling satisfied. The top half of the mountain was completely destroyed, with a gaping hole left in the bottom half. She turned her head toward her teacher, her heart aching to see a bit of approval in her brown eyes.

What she saw instead caused what was left of her energy to instantly rush out. She sunk to her knees, turning her head away from the disgusted eyes that pierced her illusions of strength and shattered them like the top of that mountain. Why was nothing she did ever enough for this tyrant?

Suddenly her breath left her as she was lifted up by a clawed hand. She felt adrenaline give her strength again, but resisted the urge to struggle. That would only make the punishment worse. She closed her eyes, steeling herself against the wrath that was to come.

Then she felt her body slowly lowering to the ground. The hand released her throat, allowing her to breathe again, and she dared to look up into the eyes staring down at her with loathing.

"Our session for today is over… But I think you should stay for your 'brother's' training. You might learn some things that are to your benefit." The words were icy, devoid of any emotion, though a small smirk came to her lips. "Yes, I think that will do perfectly. I'll even enchant your presence so he won't know you're there…"

Wendy felt the sudden rush of her mistress's enchantment come over her. As soon as it was done, Lady Irene pointed toward a small clump of trees a short way off.

"Hide there, now. Natsu is already on his way."

Without hesitating, Wendy quickly beat off the exhaustion that threatened to claim her, sprinting to the bushes and nestling in a position where she would be very hard to see, yet still have a good view of the training grounds. She barely settled in when she saw Natsu approaching.

"Good, you're here." Irene said, the sadistic smirk never leaving her face. "We can start at once. I'm extremely eager to proceed to the second part of your training today."

Suddenly an enormous mountain, almost twice the size of the one that Wendy destroyed half of, rose up out of the ground. Wendy looked at the enormous chunk of stone, her face ashen as she considered that this might be the standard she was expected to meet.

"Now begin," Irene commanded.

As Wendy watched, Natsu used his fire dragon's iron fist on the mountain. Then, to her shock, the mountain exploded from the point of impact, leaving nothing but a crated where it had been. No sooner had he destroyed the first one than another rose up, which he destroyed with a roar. Then another. Each time he used a different technique, and each time the mountain was completely obliterated.

It was almost an hour before he began to show signs of fatigue. Wendy, mesmerized at first, was now simply shocked at the sheer amount of power she was still seeing from the attacks. She would never be able to reach that level! If this was what Lady Irene wanted from her, she might as well just give up now. Perhaps she could convince Natsu to run away with her, so they would never have to see Lady Irene again!

Then Irene handed him a pair of nunchaku that looked like they were made of solid titanium. She then summoned three weapons enchanted to be in the form of monsters. For the next 30 minutes, Natsu battled the monsters with the nunchaku, the weapons wreathed in fire from his magic.

Wendy, recovered from her training now, couldn't help smiling a bit. Lady Irene was right. She could see that she had a long way to go to catch up to Natsu. She hadn't even started learning a second magic yet! As the monsters faded back into the weapons they were created from, Natsu slumped visibly, his posture screaming exhaustion. Wendy watched as Lady Irene came forward, her clawed hands clapping slowly.

"Well done Natsu," she said with a smirk. "Your performance continues to impress."

Natsu lowered his head, not looking her in the eyes as he addressed her. "Thank you, my lady."

The sadistic smirk never left her face as she added. "Unfortunately, even such a brilliant performance was not enough to placate me after your sister's performance earlier today. I very nearly broke my word and punished her directly." At this point it looked to Wendy as though the woman was eyeing Natsu like a piece of meat, her tongue sliding slowly across her lips. "Now prepare yourself for the second part of your training."

The second part? Wendy assumed that was what the nunchaku were about! What then was this second part of the training that Irene was talking about?! Her confusion mountain, and a blush started to form on her face, when Natsu began removing his clothes. Moments later he was entirely naked, and Wendy covered her mouth to keep her surprised cry from escaping.

Her big brother was covered with scars and bruises from just below his neckline to his knees. There was nothing on areas that might be commonly seen in day-to-day clothing, such as forearms, shins, hands, or feet. But everywhere else it was obvious that he'd had many injuries. Before her mind had time to process it, she saw Irene flick her finger. A long stick wrapped with thorns appeared in front of Natsu, and she flicked her hand again. The weapon struck him hard on the inside of his thigh, just below the groin area. Wendy recoiled, tears coming to her eyes as he flinched, gritting his teeth against the pain.

"Are you sure you don't want to rethink our deal, Natsu?" To Wendy the voice sounded less like the voice of a human and more like a snake. The weapon descended again, this time on the inside of his other thigh. She could see the blood starting to drip down his legs from the first hit. "If I took my anger out on Wendy, you wouldn't have to do this."

Natsu just shook his head, and Wendy reached up to wipe the pooling liquid that blurred her eyes away. The weapon morphed again, this time into a whip, which had bits of metal and glass shards lining it near the tip. She took hold of this and struck him hard across the back, a sadistic gleam in her eyes.

"You know if she were punished it would provide her incentive to improve faster." The monster pulled back again, striking with the whip across his shoulders. An ever increasing stream of blood poured from his other injuries.

There was no response from Natsu still, and Wendy was forced to look away. She couldn't bear to watch any more. Was this why Irene never punished her after that first event? She took her anger out on Natsu every time Wendy didn't meet her expectations? She didn't know how long it lasted. Didn't want to know. She only knew that when the sound of the beating subsided and she finally dared to look up, Natsu was on his hands and knees, blood dripping from numerous cuts on his back, and legs. He looked as though he were barely able to support himself. Irene was standing over him, the sadistic gleam gone from her eyes.

"Well, it looks like you've had enough for one night. Wash yourself off before you come to dinner. You can't show up looking like that."

"Yes, my Lady." The words were strained, the voice drawn as Natsu slowly picked himself up. Irene turned and walked off toward her residence. Natsu headed off in a different direction, not toward the house where he and Wendy often stayed.

Wendy fought the compulsion to go after him. She knew that for his sake she couldn't let him know that she'd seen what just happened. But once he was out of sight, she fled back to their house. When she reached the smaller building, barely sparing a glance at the large mansion that Irene lived in, she went straight to her room, where the flood of tears was finally released.

 **~~~~~~Fairy Tail~~~~~~**

[[A/N: In this story, Lisanna didn't die in x782. Really the only point to the whole scene in canon was to make some emotional turmoil for Mirajane and Natsu and give a reason that Natsu 'liked' Lucy. Also, there won't be an Edolas arc. The premise is that Mystogan/Edolas Jellal got a team together and reversed the Anima machine without waiting for it to suck up a whole guild. Because that would have been the responsible thing to do.]]

"Still no sign of Natsu…" Erza sighed, leaning against the bar. Much of the guild seemed to have forgotten the rowdy dragon slayer. But she couldn't forget him, even for a minute.

"No shit. If he were anywhere he could've been found, the council would've got him by now."

Erza immediately bristled at the sound of her rival's voice, turning to face the take over mage. "Nobody asked you, goth-freak."

"Didn't need to. You were clearly too dumb to think of it yourself." Mira smirked, stepping forward to get in Erza's face.

"You know, we never did finish that duel." Erza growled, pulling her sword out as she faced Mirajane.

It felt like their fight barely started when Makarov emerged in his giant form, bringing his fists down to stop them both in their tracks.

"Are you trying to destroy the guild?!" He yelled as he faded back to his short, balding self. "As if I don't have enough trouble with all the complaints we get!"

"Destroy the guild?" Erza stopped as she looked around. Tables were broken. Guild members lay in piles or alone on the floor where they'd tried to jump in or intervene. The bar was even smashed in one place. Apparently the brawl went longer than she thought it did.

"I apologize for the damage we caused master. You may strike me." She said, quickly inclining her head respectfully.

"Hmph. It's nothing that can't be fixed," Mirajane retorted.

Makarov sighed. "Well, I've got some important news for all of you. The council has announced that it's given up its search for the dragon slayers and will no longer honor the wanted posters. That means if we find Natsu it will be safe to bring him back to the guild now."

Erza immediately looked up, her heart beating slightly faster at the thought of bringing Natsu back. Nobody made the guild exciting like he did! Besides, she wanted to see how much stronger he'd gotten living on his own. Now, if they could only find him…

"Of course," Makarov continued, "we still have no idea where to start looking. Not only that, Natsu probably won't be aware that the council reversed their decision. I may have a lead that someone can use to find him, though."

"A lead?" Erza asked, her guilt at destroying half the guild instantly forgotten. "What lead? Where can we find Natsu?!"

"I'll tell the S-class mages and only the S-class," Makarov said, his voice firm. "If you want to know where we think Natsu may be found, come into my office. I chose to announce this today because Gildarts is also here."

Without another word, he headed into his office. Erza quickly followed him, and she felt rather than saw Mirajane behind her. Others crowded around the door as they went in, each hoping to hear something of the clue the master was about to drop.

Gildarts was already inside, sitting in one of the large, comfortable chairs. There were two smaller, wooden stools that Erza quickly took one of, and Makarov took the comfortable looking chair behind the desk. Mira took the other chair.

"I guess Laxus doesn't care about the search for Natsu," Gildarts sounded a little disappointed when he spoke, and from all appearances he was addressing the master.

"I'm not surprised. Laxus thinks of little but himself these days." Makarov's eyes looked heavy when he spoke of Laxus. "He'll have to be careful or he'll end up like his father."

"Umm, not to interrupt," Erza turned to see Mirajane, still standing, right next to her. "But what is this clue about Natsu's whereabouts?"

"Always the impatient one Mirajane," Makarov said, a little bit of the smile returning to his eyes. Then his face became serious again. "Well, when Natsu first disappeared 3 years ago, I learned from an old acquaintance that he had been seen in one of the small towns on the coast. The description matched him perfectly, down to the pink hair and the white scaly scarf. They said he wasn't alone either. He had a girl with blue hair, a blue cat that talked, and a white cat that talked with him."

Wait. He'd known this for 3 years and he was just telling them now? They could've found Natsu a long time ago with this information! And they should've! Council or no council, Fairy Tail could've protected the dragon slayer. What was he thinking keeping something so important from them?!

"You know all this time and you didn't tell us?!" Mirajane, as usual displaying less restraint, blurted out Erza's thoughts. When Erza glanced at the take over mage, she could see an annoyed fire in her eyes.

"I didn't tell you because, if the reports are true, he was headed for the enemy of Ishgar. The Alvarez Empire."

"The what?" Mirajane blinked. Erza thought she might've heard of Alvarez at some point, but she didn't really know anything about them.

"The Alvarez Empire is one of the most powerful magic empires in the world," Makarov replied with a frown. "Ishgar has our wizard saints, but it is said that Alvarez has 12 wizards whose power exceeds that of our wizard saints. They are ruled by emperor Spriggan, but other than a name we know nothing about him."

"But if it's dangerous for us, then for Natsu at that age…" Erza couldn't help herself, thinking about the young dragon slayer going to a place like that. It could be that the council gave up the search because they already presumed him dead, if they had this information. Or, worse yet, maybe they already knew he was dead!

"I don't know, child." The voice of the guild master was heavy. "I hope that he's still alive somewhere there, but even if he is, there is little we can hope to accomplish."

"Then what?—" Mirajane started, but Makarov stopped her with an upheld hand.

"Though Alvarez is not friendly to Ishgar, we are not currently at war," he said. "And they seem to value their trade economy. If one or two of you were to go on a ship to see Alvarez, I don't think it would cause any problems. They're not looking for a war right now anyway."

"Well what are we waiting for?!" Erza said. "Let's go to Hargeon and find passage!"

"Just a moment," Makarov said. "As I said before, even though Alvarez is technically not our enemy, they are potentially very dangerous. Because of that, I'm only sending you if Gildarts agrees to go along."

"We don't need that old fart!" Mira burst out beside her. "If anything happens I'm perfectly capable of handling myself, and I have to admit the tin can over here can handle herself almost as well."

Erza filed away the barb as something to be dealt with later as she had to remain calm at the moment. "Master, if all three of us go to Alvarez, won't that leave the guild without any high paying jobs?"

"You may not have noticed, Erza, but many of the younger wizards are really growing in their abilities. And, to be honest, I think that having you and Mirajane to complete all the most difficult quests, not to mention Laxus and Gildarts of course, is actually holding many of them back from becoming stronger. While you're gone, I plan to allow A class mages to complete some S class requests in groups of 3 or 4. It will teach them teamwork and help them to grow stronger."

"Are you sure that's wise master? I mean, I know Gray, Elfman, and a few others are improving, but do you really think they're ready to handle S class quests, even in groups? And besides, according to council rules, don't they have to at least have one S class with them to take the requests?" It wasn't that Erza didn't think they could handle themselves. She was afraid for the safety of the younger mages, who she kind of felt were under her charge.

Makarov smirked. "The council is losing popularity with the people, so it's fortunate for us that I kept this flyer." He pulled out the council bounty authorizing the killing of the young dragon slayers from 3 years prior. "I can use it to negotiate with the council in very special cases, and I deemed this one of them. I've already acquired their approval for my plan, but you only have 2 months. That is, of course, assuming that Gildarts is interested in joining you." Here he turned his attention to the other mage.

"To find Natsu, I'm in." Gildarts said with a grin.

Makarov nodded. "Very well. I'll turn management of this over to you. The rest of the guild will merely be told that the three of you have been selected to go on a special job and will be returning within 2 months."

"Ok," Gildarts said. "I need about 10 minutes to get to my house and pick up what I'll need for the journey, so let's plan on meeting at the train station in 45 minutes."

"Got it!" Erza said, quickly getting up to go prepare her own luggage. That didn't leave her a lot of time to pack, and she had to make sure she would have everything she needed.

 **~~~~~~Irene's Mansion~~~~~~**

Wendy stood outside the door to Irene's room, a little surprised at being here. She'd decided on this day, since she had learned to copy Irene's spell to mask her presence, she would discover what Natsu's night 'training' entailed. He thought she never noticed, but she could hear him get up and leave the house after he thought she was asleep. He would do it every night, and the one time she dared to watch him from a window she'd watched him go into Irene's mansion.

This was a recent development. Though she didn't know exactly when it started, she knew it was a nightly thing for the last 3 months, but no more than 4 months ago it hadn't been happening. So naturally she was curious as to what Irene could want with her big bro at this hour. Imagine her surprise when Natsu disappeared into Irene's bedroom!

Hiding a good distance from the door so that none of the servants would notice her if they happened to pass by, she listened to what was going on inside.

"Mistress," she heard Natsu's voice in the careful, subservient tone he usually took with Irene. "Please don't take offense, but I really want to know… Why do we do this every night, if you can't even feel it?"

"Hmm… I'm feeling benevolent, my little dragon. And there's no point in hiding it from you… I do this, more than anything, because I can. Because I like to feel the power that this form can wield over a man. I enjoy knowing that my body can still drive someone like you crazy with desire. And, of course, I will be sure that I am the only one who will satisfy that desire. Does that satisfy your curiosity, little dragon?"

There was silence for a few minutes. Then she heard Natsu's voice again. "It does, mistress. But I may have found a way to fully break this curse, once for all…"

Silence again, for several minutes. Then, slowly, Irene's voice broke in. For the first time, Wendy didn't hear the sadistic, almost cruel edge that it usually held. "You… You would do that for me?... Why?..."

"I just know if I were in your position, I would want someone to do it for me." Natsu said quietly. "But there is one thing you should know. In order to break this curse, we will have to release that other power that we've talked about. I think I'm ready, but if I'm not…"

"I will test you tomorrow." Irene's voice was back to normal now, but there was a hint of excitement to it now. "If you are ready, how would you undo this curse?"

"It's hard to explain fully," said Natsu. "It took me many times to get it right myself. But your current condition is the result of a 'dragon seed' that turned you into a dragon once it was fully mature… From what you said, Zeref couldn't find a way to undo the transformation. But there is a way. It requires the reverse of what happened with the dragon seed."

"You mean… a 'human' seed?" There was disbelief in her voice.

"Yes mistress. When your dragon gave you its power, the dragon seed was created. The result was that when the seed matured, you became a dragon. But if a human were to confer power on you in a similar way, the reverse transformation would occur. You couldn't use your dragon slayer magic, but that shouldn't be a problem with your high enchantment magic…"

"It might just work…" Irene said quietly. "But why do you need your demon power unlocked to accomplish this?"

"The reason this seems impossible is that a human can't confer their power on another race in such a way… However, someone who is more than a human could confer their human power on somebody. That is why I need that final power unlocked. Because of that power, I may be the only person in the world right now who can help you."

There were a few minutes of silence again. Then she heard Irene's voice. "Very well. We will test you tomorrow, and you'd better be ready."

"But now we've had enough talk for the night. It's time for you to prove to me just how tantalizing this body is to you."

Wendy flushed and hurried away from the door, having a good idea what was coming next and having no desire to listen in. Much of the conversation was a mystery to her, and a reminder that she still knew little of Lady Irene despite training under her all this time. Yet one thing remained unchanged: her resolve to grow stronger. To push herself past her limits so that Natsu wouldn't suffer for her mistakes anymore.

 **~~~~~~Oracion Seis Headquarters, some time later~~~~~~~**

"Master!" Gajeel rushed into Brain's office, his heart still racing from his long run. He felt like he hadn't stopped running from the moment he left Hargeon.

"Gajeel," Brain looked up from whatever scheme he was devising on his desk, setting his pen down. "I take it you have news of the other dragon slayers?"

"Almost certainly," Gajeel said. "Yesterday three of Fairy Tail's most powerful wizards left the guild, headed to Hargeon, and went down to the docks to get a ship. I heard them asking around for transport to the Alvarez Empire. I came back as soon as their ship left to inform you."

"Alvarez?" Brain frowned. "If the other dragon slayers really are there, this could be a problem for our plans…"

"Not if we get to them before Fairy Tail does," Gajeel said. "I found a ship that said he could beat them there if we leave today. I have 2 hours to get back to the port."

"Hmm…" Brain stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Very well then. Take Cobra and go. But be very cautious. There are mages in Alvarez that even I wouldn't want to trifle with."

"And if I find the salamander or the sky maiden?"

"Bring them back if possible. If not, kill them."

"The council won't pay their bounties anymore." Gajeel argued, surprised at the command to destroy his fellow dragon slayers.

"But if the fairies bring them back to Ishgar, they could interfere with our plans. Chances are that if they're not dead, they've been taken and trained by one of the powerful wizard guilds there. We can't chance them coming back and helping Fairy Tail out."

"As you wish, master." Gajeel couldn't really argue with him there. Oh well, at least he would get a chance to fight the Salamander. That could at least be fun.

"Gajeel, one more thing. If you do find them, you must kill them quickly. Don't give them a chance to fight. Hopefully they went there separately and never met, but in the more likely event that they're working together, both you and Cobra will be needed. If you can, hit them before they see you coming."

"Understood." He was totally not gonna' do that. What would be the fun in killing Salamander before he had a chance to test his strength? He wanted to prove he was the strongest dragon slayer, not just carry out an assassination. Yep. He was definitely gonna' get a fight. But of course, Brain didn't need to know that.

A few minutes later Black Steel and Cobra left for the port city of Hargeon.

* * *

And there it is. Drop a review. :D


	4. Chapter 4

****DISCLAIMER** I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. Mashima does. **DISCLAIMER****

So I wasn't going to post another chapter so soon, but I was kind of on a role with this story.

Let me say this before anything else: I wrote this story this way in part because it seems like every story out there right now with an IrenexNatsu pairing involves basically god Natsu overpowering Irene and the two falling in love on the spot. I wanted to write a story where Irene's character is unchanged from the manga and she is, as she would be initially, the dominant one in the relationship, at least at the start. I believe there's a lot of development that can occur for both Natsu and Irene in such a relationship, where as the 'godly overpowered Natsu who's an automatic orgasm inducing machine' is just kind of trite and overused.

 **Zero-Tails317** : To be honest, the back story helped develop her character more for me, because it helped me understand her better. I was prepared to ignore the backstory if it didn't fit with my plan for this story, but actually it worked out better than I could have hoped. The one thing that I did have to rethink a little bit was that she was unable to enjoy the experience of sex for the pleasure aspect. Initially I figured I would just wait till the dragonification was reversed for sex, but as I was writing the characters had other plans, and I think it worked out.

 **Alvarez** : That seems a little misogynistic, to refer to a woman as a slut because she uses her body to feel empowered over a man. As far as the comment about just having sex with anyone, you're kind of generalizing without knowing anything about the relationship. This Irene most certainly does not just have sex with anyone. Also, you'll recall that I said that I 'might' disregard canon character. However, the canon background that was provided fit rather well with what I was going to write and actually made it even better, so I stuck with it.

There are a couple flashbacks in this chapter that I hope will explain a little more about Natsu and Irene's relationship, and particularly Irene's mindset. But I won't say any more, as you have to read it for yourself if you want to find out.

* * *

Irene Belserion lay alone on her bed, the place she would go and pretend she could still sleep. With Natsu gone, her mind was free to wander again. And wander it did.

She couldn't believe the young dragon slayer discovered a way to reverse her dragonification. She couldn't believe he actually _wanted_ to, the way she treated him.

Of course it hadn't always been that way. When she first brought the boy and his little 'sister' in, they'd been just like any other wizards under her command. She could be harsh when she needed to, but really she was just interested in making them stronger.

Then came the day that all changed…

 **~~~~~~Flashback, approximate time, x780~~~~~~**

"That's barely even an attack Wendy! You've got to work harder!" Irene was getting frustrated with the young dragon slayer. Sure, she was still young, but she could increase her power faster than this. Natsu's power was growing much faster, and he had more to begin with!

"I-I can't. I'm sorry, milady." The blue-haired girl just stood there, exhausted, staring at the training partners Irene had enchanted for her.

"It looks like you need more incentive then." Irene frowned, taking her battle stance. "I'll be your sparring partner now."

Of course, what followed wasn't a fight. It was a one-sided beat down. A beat down in which Irene systematically hit the most painful spots on her opponent, making sure not to leave any lasting marks or cause too much damage, but to keep the reminder of pain that would inspire her to work harder in the future. When she was done, she warned the child that if she didn't show more improvement in the future she could expect more punishment.

After Wendy was dismissed, she brought Natsu in for one training. She watched the pink-haired boy in amusement. There was no denying he put everything he had into every training exercise. His power was growing quickly too. In only a few years he would be a useful addition to her army. And, if she ever dared unlock the dormant power she found resting inside of him, he might even rival her own power.

Once his training was done, she returned to her own mansion to eat, leaving her new servants to eat their own fare in their quarters as usual. She was just finishing dinner when a knock sounded on her door.

With an annoyed sigh, she got up to answer it. Who in the world could be bothering her at this time? Nobody even dared come to her mansion most days…

She was more surprised when she opened the door and saw a mop of pink hair. Neither of her students ever dared approach her house before!

"What do you want, Natsu?" She asked, using her tone inflection to make it clear there would be consequences if he was here on some trivial manner.

"Milady," Natsu said. "Forgive the intrusion, but I have a request to make. From now on please don't hurt Wendy. If you're angry with her in her training, take it out on me afterward."

Irene stared at him, unable to find words to answer. He cared about the girl enough to take on her suffering for her? Why? Nobody came to put a stop to her suffering when the dragon seed started maturing in her. Not even her lover would protect her at that time. But wait. She needed to answer this question before her mind ran.

"If that's what you want, I'll do it. But be warned, your beating will be twice as harsh as hers would be." Surely that would change his mind.

"I understand." He said, and again she couldn't believe her ears. Knowing that he would bear an even worse punishment he would still stand in her place?

"It's settled then. You may go."

After the dragon slayer left, Irene sat in a large chair in her living room, looking in the direction he departed. What had the young blue-haired dragon slayer done to earn such affection from Natsu? How could someone exist that threatened to restore the faith she once had in humans? Why was she cursed to have had a lover who didn't even care about her?

After several hours steeped in dark thoughts, a sneer came across her face as she continued to look toward the house that her servants shared. He would change his tune. After a couple weeks, he would beg her to return to punishing the girl.

But a month passed, and even though she beat him within inches of his life on several occasions he refused to back down. Even when she asked him, he still insisted on protecting the younger dragon slayer, and that made her furious.

Soon she couldn't even look at Wendy without bile coming to her throat. What had she done to deserve such love and affection in her life? To have someone so devoted to her at such a young age? She didn't deserve someone like Natsu! If anyone deserved that kind of love it was her! But she'd been denied it. Her 'lover' scorned her. Tried to kill her. Called her 'monster.'

The world was so unfair. Yet, perhaps fate had handed her some small consolation in this. She may never have Natsu's affections the way Wendy did, but she could take his body. She could take his service. And she would. As soon as he was old enough she would.

 **~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~**

Irene sighed as she lay back on her bed, resisting the temptation to feel guilty about the multiple brutal beatings she inflicted on the dragon slayer. It was his fault for caring so much about Wendy! Even after she used her body to bring him pleasure, he showed no wavering in his protective stance toward the younger dragon slayer!

Her fingers loosened on the sheets that she hadn't even been aware she was gripping, her heartbeat slowing a little. Sure, he was still as devoted as ever to the little blue-haired slut, but his surprising determination to break his curse showed that he at least cared about her a little. Perhaps, given enough time, she could possess not just his body, but also his affections. Perhaps there was a way to enchant that into him.

As the thoughts swirled through her mind, Irene wished more than ever that she could sleep. Even with the promise of humanity finally within her grasp, she felt as though she couldn't wait another second to claim it. Perhaps it was childish, but she spent the night cursing humans and their need to sleep and cursing the sun that hid itself for so long. It seemed that tomorrow would never come.

 **~~~~~~Natsu~~~~~~**

The first faint glimmers of light trickled through the window, piercing the darkness of his dreams. Slowly, he opened his eyes, instinctively stretching out his arms and then wincing slightly as he felt the skin threatening to pull apart on his newly-closed cuts.

He got out of bed quickly, stretching his body and trying a few exercises against the pain. Soon he couldn't even feel it anymore, and his regular grin was on his face. This would be an exciting day!

The first thing he did after stretching was check on Wendy. As usual, the blue-haired girl was still fast asleep in her bed. She would wake up in about 15 minutes though, when the smell of his bacon, mushroom, and cheese omelet reached her. The dragon slayer hummed softly to himself as he combined the ingredients.

"Natsu," he turned to see Happy. So the cat was awake. "I want to go fishing today!"

"Sorry buddy, but I don't think that'll happen. Today's gonna' be a busy day for me."

"Spending more time with Irene?" Happy asked. When Natsu nodded, the blue cat frowned. "I don't know what you see in her. She's a big meanie."

Natsu laughed at that, but as the cat went out to go find his own fish his mind began to wander. True, Irene seemed to have no humanity left in her right now, but he believed that she could change. He hoped that helping her regain her true humanity would be a catalyst in that. After all, she was once a human who cared very much both for people and dragons…

 **~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~**

It had been over 2 months since the new arrangement started, and to Natsu's surprise Irene now required extra 'training' time. During this time, however, there would be no actual training. He would either sit in her big mansion, wondering why Wendy couldn't be there with them, or go out into the town with her to buy food and other supplies. Though she barely talked to him, other than to give him instructions, it almost seemed as though she was trying to spend time with him.

Tonight they were sitting on the beach, staring out over the ocean. Natsu frowned as he snuck a glance at her. She looked beautiful in the sunset, but he knew beneath that exterior was a harsh, cold person who seemed to hate the world. Well, at least the humans in the world.

"Milady, forgive me for asking, but where did you come from? Your life is kind of a mystery to me," he said quietly.

"Hmm…" She turned, appraising him with those almost cruel eyes. "I suppose it can't hurt to tell you. Or perhaps I should say show you." She then took her large staff and tapped it to his forehead. "Memento Illumina."

What happened next was something Natsu never experienced before. He was transported back in time, where he found himself to be an outside observer of what he quickly realized where Irene's memories. He watched as she invented the dragon slayer magic that he and Wendy now used. He saw what began happening to other dragon slayers, and for a brief moment wondered if the same fate was in store for him and Wendy. Then he saw her beginning to turn. He watched as the one she thought of as a lover, the one who, in her memories, he could feel she expected to protect her, called her a monster and threw her in prison. He saw the transformation as he attempted to execute her. The years of searching for a way to break the curse. And finally, the exhilaration of finally having a human form again, only to be followed by the agony of realizing it was nothing more than a form.

When it was all over, Natsu felt tears in his eyes as he felt something he never thought he could feel for this woman. Empathy.

"Someday I'll find a way to break the curse," he muttered quietly. "And when I do, I want you to be the person you were before."

"The way I was before huh?" For a moment he thought he saw the cruel edge disappear from her eyes, replaced by a flicker of wistfulness. "I'm afraid it's too late for that."

"Besides," she said getting up abruptly. "You'll never break the curse. Even Zeref couldn't, and he's by far the most talented wizard I've ever met."

With that she left, not saying another word. But as Natsu returned to the house he and Wendy shared, his determination only became stronger. He would break the curse and prove her wrong. And hopefully when he did, she could learn how to be nicer to him and to Wendy.

 **~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~**

Well, there relationship had certainly gotten more complicated since then. A few months ago Irene had demanded that he come to her mansion every night as soon as Wendy was asleep. He wondered what the woman could want now, and was, he had to admit, pleasantly surprised to discover her intentions. The only downside was that there weren't really any feelings involved, at least not yet. And, since she couldn't feel pleasure from it, he knew that he was the only one really experiencing the sex. But she did have a really hot body.

Ripping his mind from their nighttime activities, Natsu took the bacon off the stove and set it on a plate to drain some of the grease while he started the eggs. Once he had them in a skillet and beat them well, he made sure the heat was low enough to slice a few mushrooms and cut the bacon into small pieces. Then he combined all the ingredients, added some salt and pepper, and heated the skillet a little more with one hand while managing the spatula with the other.

It wasn't long before Wendy came out, Carla trailing behind her as usual. The only time the two were separate was when Wendy was training, and that was by Irene's order of course.

"That smells good Natsu-nii," Wendy said, her tone a little muted from the usual excitement she showed in the morning.

"Thanks Wendy," Natsu said, turning to her with a grin. "It'll be done in a moment, so why don't you get some plates?"

She merely nodded and headed to the cupboard, where she got plates and silverware for all of them.

"You're awfully quiet this morning, Wendy," Natsu commented as he distributed the food on the plates, including the extra plate they got out for Happy.

"Oh. I-I'm j-just tired." Wendy said, a little too quickly and cheerfully. "Tired from yesterday's training."

"Ah." Natsu decided to let it go for now. "Make sure you're not pushing yourself too hard, Wendy."

She just smiled at him as she started digging into the food. She had just finished eating when Happy returned from his brief morning fishing trip. Natsu glanced at his empty paws before smirking slightly at the exceed. "Come up empty again Happy? Too bad, we didn't save any breakfast for you." While he was still speaking he quietly swapped the exceed's full plate with Wendy's now empty plate.

Natsu started eating his own food as Carla sat, still eating daintily, next to Wendy. Happy looked at the plate that was in his place, then at Natsu with big eyes. His bottom lip began to quiver.

"You're a big meanie Natsu!" He said, his eyes pouring anime tears. "I really wanted some of that omelet!"

"It was so good I ate your share," Natsu said, quickly cutting Wendy off when she opened her mouth. "Guess you shouldn't have come back empty-handed."

"Natsu," Wendy shot him a glare. "Be nice to Happy. Happy, your food is right here. Natsu switched my plate with yours when you weren't looking."

"Thanks Wendy!" Happy immediately jumped up and hugged the blue-haired dragon slayer. "At least one of you is nice to me."

The table banter went on, but Natsu's heart wasn't fully in it. For the first time in his life he was worried about his performance that day. What if he wasn't powerful enough to control the power Irene was going to unlock? He couldn't imagine how disappointed she would be if he wasn't ready to plant the human seed yet… He'd been certain he was when he brought it up, but now he was questioning himself. Well, he would just have to try not to think about it. He couldn't change the past. All he could do was face the future with confidence.

 **~~~~~~3 weeks later~~~~~~**

"Are you sure this is the right place?"

Erza, Mirajane, and Gildarts stood staring at a stately mansion on enormous grounds. A smaller house, more like a hut, stood near the mansion on the grounds. Much of the property was obscured by enormous hedges, mountains, or other natural barriers.

"It's the only clue we've been able to find since we got here, big Red," Mira responded. Erza seethed inwardly but ignored the name for the moment as the girl continued. "A few townspeople say they've seen a pink haired boy with the red-haired lady who lives here."

"But pink hair can't be that rare, can it Gildarts?"

Gildarts shrugged. "Natsu's the only guy I've met with pink hair. Besides, at this point we have to follow any lead. Otherwise we'll run out of time to return…"

Erza scowled at Mirajane, who was currently sticking her tongue out. They slowly went up to the door of the mansion, and Gildarts knocked loudly 3 times.

The door was opened pretty promptly by a tall, dark-haired man in a suit. His expression was very unwelcoming for a doorman. In fact, Erza felt like he was downright glaring at them.

"What business do you have with the lady Irene?" The man asked.

Gildarts put a hand over Mira's mouth as soon as it opened, answering himself instead with a bit of a laugh. "Well you see, we were just visiting Alvarez, and happened to hear in passing that there's a pink haired boy that lives out here. We were kind of surprised, because we used to know a kid with pink hair a few years ago, so we thought we'd drop in to see if it's the same guy ya know." He gave him a big stupid grin, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

"I'm sure it's not. Now unless you have business with the lady I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The man's expression hadn't changed.

What business did he have telling them to leave without at least letting them speak to the mansion's owner?! Erza opened her mouth to ask him just that, only to have Gildarts' hand clapped quickly over it.

"I see. Well, we're sorry to have bothered you then. We'll be off."

With that he turned around, grabbing Erza and Mirajane by the arms and forcing them to come with him. Erza looked back several times as they departed and saw the doorman still watching them till they were out of sight around a bend in the road.

"Are we really giving up that easily?" She hissed at Gildarts, finally breaking free from his hold.

"We weren't going to get anywhere that way," Gildarts replied. "And there's no sense in raising his suspicion any further."

"What do you have in mind then?" Mira asked from the other side.

"Well, the property extended back to the shoreline. If we come back that way, we'll be less likely to be seen."

"But how will we find Natsu?" Erza asked, not sure how this new plan would work out any better for them if they couldn't get into the mansion.

"If Natsu is here, he's more likely than not going to be staying in the hut," Gildarts replied. "This 'lady Irene' doesn't seem the type to take runaways in and give them rooms in her mansion, at least if her staff is any indication."

Well, Erza couldn't really disagree there. With a sigh she followed Gildarts as he continued down the road for over a mile till they finally found a gap in the mountains wide enough to reach the ocean.

After about an hour of combined hiking, swimming, and climbing, the three finally emerged in an area sheltered from the view of the mansion, behind the smaller hut that stood nearby. But it seemed they were in luck, because before they could approach the hut something off to their left caught Erza's attention, near the beach. She tugged on Gildarts arm and hissed, "look!," pointing in that direction.

There on the beach was a boy who looked about 16 or 17 with an unmistakable shock of pink hair, a white scaly scarf, and black martial-arts style clothes with a crimson red belt. He was currently talking to a younger girl with blue hair who looked like she couldn't be older than 11. As they approached, Erza could hear the conversation pretty clearly.

"Better get ready Wendy," Natsu was saying to the younger girl. "She'll be here any minute to start training."

"I'm definitely gonna' do my best today, Natsu!" The girl now identified as Wendy said. Natsu grinned at her.

"Natsu!" Natsu froze as Mirajane called his name. Erza sighed, going forward with her rival to meet the pink-haired teen now that their cover was blown.

"M-mira? Erza?" The pink-haired boy still appeared to be in a state of shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you Natsu!" Erza said before Mirajane could answer. "The council's lifted their bounty. You can come back to Fairy Tail now!"

"I see." Natsu said, his posture slowly relaxing. "Look, I appreciate you girls taking the trouble to find me, but I can't go back right now. Maybe some day."

"Are you sure Natsu-nii?" Wendy broke in, and Erza looked at her, surprised. "Your old guild must be better than this."

Natus looked at her, his features softening. "I gave my word, and I'm not about to break it. You should go with them, Wendy. You'd love Fairy Tail, and you're only here because of me anyway."

The blue-haired girl shook her head emphatically. "If Natsu-nii is staying, I am too."

Ok. Erza had enough of this. Natsu was coming back whether he liked it or not. She gave him her trademark glare while allowing a good portion of her magic power to show. "Don't make us use force, Natsu. We came to bring you back to the guild, and we're going to do it one way or another."

"Look, Erza, I gave my word to do something for the person that lives here, and I intend to keep it. So we can't go to the guild. I'm sorry."

Erza stepped back, surprised that Natsu was completely unphased by her show of force. However, her face hardened in determination. "Fine. Be that way. Let's take him, Mira!"

Mira instantly transformed into her Satan Soul, while Erza requipped her heaven's wheel armor. The two were about to attack when an immense magic power filled the air in front of them. Erza jumped back instinctually, just getting out of the way of a massive rain of swords that fell right where she and Mirajane were just standing.

Looking up, she saw a woman with long red hair approaching. The thought came to her mind that the woman looked a little bit like her, but she didn't have time to dwell on it as there was anger with a hint of madness in her eyes, and magic power was swirling like a tornado around her.

"Did I just hear you say you're her to take Natsu away from me?" The words were quiet, but filled with fury. "Well I have news for you whores. You can't have him!" She waved her staff forward and suddenly Erza felt herself hit by an invisible force. She was tumbling backwards for several yards before getting to her feet. A few feet away, she saw Mirajane also standing.

But as she looked back to her opponent, she realized that she was right in front of them again, already. The tip of her staff was encased in a glowing light, and her eyes burned with a fury that bordered on insanity. As the light exploded toward her, Erza realized there was more than enough magic in it to kill her. But it was too late to dodge!

Suddenly the light was canceled out by a large magic circle in the air. Erza turned to see Gildarts, standing between her and Mirajane now. He was breathing heavily, his feet firmly planted and his arm still out in the defensive posture.

"Alright! We can take him altogether!" Erza said, turning back forward. But to her surprise Gildarts grabbed her arm and she was pulled backward. She looked over to see that Mirajane was in the older man's other arm.

"What are you doing?!" She shrieked at him. This was their chance to save Natsu! To bring him back to the guild where he belonged!

"She's too powerful for us right now," Gildarts said simply. "Plus, Natsu had no intention of leaving. That's a battle we couldn't have won."

"Natsu just needs a little convincing!" She yelled, struggling against his grasp. Then she relented as a huge blast of magic hit the ground inches behind her feet, disintegrating everything it touched and leaving an enormous crater.

"Actually I'm with Gildarts on this one," Mirajane gulped, looking at the ground behind them.

It seemed like forever before the witch finally stopped coming after them. Gildarts stopped, dropping to his knees and panting for breath as he released Erza and Mirajane. Erza looked back in the direction they'd just come from. The place Natsu was currently a willing prisoner.

"Do you think we'll ever see him again?" She asked quietly, tears coming to her eyes.

"I don't know," Gildarts said, giving her a small, tired grin. "But with Natsu I've learned one thing. Always expect the unexpected."

Surprisingly, Erza actually felt a little comforted by this. He was right. Even though he was young when he left, Natsu always outperformed everyone's expectations. He clearly had some sort of a plan, and it didn't sound like he had given up on seeing the guild again.

"Till next time we see you, Natsu," she whispered as Gildarts stood and the three made their way back to the port. Their hearts were all a little heavier, but at least they knew that Natsu was alive. Hopefully he would come back to his home some day.

 **~~~~~~That night~~~~~~**

Gajeel crept silently toward the house where the Salamander and the little girl were currently staying. After scoping the place out and witnessing Irene's display of power, neither of them had any desire whatsoever for a head on confrontation with the woman. They'd also seen that Salamander had no intention of leaving, even with his own guild. That only left one option for them.

They slipped in quietly through the door, which was left unlocked. Gajeel couldn't help smirking at the foolishness and arrogance. They were so certain they weren't in any danger here. Well, just made his job easier.

"I'll get the Salamander," he hissed to Cobra. "You take care of the girl."

Cobra knew better than to argue, and moments later Gajeel was opening the door to Salamander's room. He was originally going to engage in a full-out fight, but he didn't want to attract Irene's attention, so he'd settle for seeing the shocked expression on the pink-haired teen's face as he died.

But it was Gajeel who was in for a surprise. Salamander was nowhere to be found in the room. Apparently he'd left after the two dragon slayers went to bed. Where was he now though?! Quickly, he slipped out the door to the girl's room, where he found Cobra.

"New plan," he hissed. "Did you take care of the girl?"

Cobra smirked and glanced at the bed, and Gajeel looked over. The girl lay on the bed, her eyes wide in shock, her body frozen in the paralyzed pain that came from Cobra's ultimate weapon – his poison. Now death would surely come within a couple hours.

"Salamander wasn't in his room," he informed him. "We need to scope out the cabin and wait for him to come back. Then we have to make sure he goes down without a fight."

"Easy," Cobra smirked. "He won't be able to do anything to us while I'm listening to his thoughts."

"I mean we wait till he's asleep," Gajeel responded, glaring at the poison dragon slayer. "We can't risk him making a commotion and waking Lady Irene."

After about half an hour Gajeel finally saw Natsu. The teen emerged from the mansion, of all places, and came back to the hut. Opening the door quietly, he went inside. Gajeel couldn't see what was going on, so he asked Cobra, who could still focus in on the teen's thoughts.

"What's he doing?" He asked gruffly.

"Oh, he's about to go in and give his little 'sister' a nice tuck-in," Cobra said with a smirk. "Man is he in for a surprise. I can't wait to hear his thoughts when he finds out she's a goner."

Gajeel couldn't help smirking at the prospect as well. Only problem was that he might fetch Irene if that happened. "Alright, new plan. We can't risk him waking Irene, which means we'll have to risk a head on fight. Try to get him with your poison."

With that they headed in, as quietly as possible. When they reached the door, they saw the door to the girl's room was wide open. Inside there was an immense magical pressure building. Before they could mount an attack, Salamander turned to them, his eyes a crimson red with bright pinpoints of orange for pupils. "Did you do this to Wendy?"

Gajeel shuddered involuntarily. That voice. It didn't sound human. There was something almost demonic about the look the dragon slayer was giving them right now.

Cobra just smirked. "That was all me buddy," he said with a grin. "Oh, and you won't hit me with an iron fist. I can hear your thoughts," he added the last part smugly as the dragon slayer's eyes widened.

"Oh really? Then hear this." Suddenly Cobra's eyes widened, and he clutched his head, a scream of pain erupting from his lips. Gajeel stepped back, wondering what the fuck just happened, till Cobra fell to the ground, his eyes wide, smoke pouring out of his ears.

"You won't hear anything ever again," Salamander hissed at him, the deep red eyes glowing with anger. Cobra didn't even seem to see or hear him. He was rolling on the floor, screaming and clutching his ears in pain.

At that moment Gajeel made a tactical decision. Fuck carrying out their mission. He grabbed Cobra and ran, feeling the heat of a blast of fire on his heels as he exited the house. He ran faster than he ever did before in his life. Whatever the fuck Salamander was, he wasn't human. And as much as Gajeel could take pain, he had no desire to endure what that… what that _demon_ was going to do to him.

When he finally stopped running, more than a mile from the small house, he was still just as certain. He would rather face Brain's wrath than go in for another attack.

 **~~~~~~Time Skip, x784, Hargeon~~~~~~**

"Do you really think we'll see him this time?!"

Mirajane, Erza, Elfman, Lisanna, and Gray were all on a train headed for Hargeon. The one speaking was Lisanna, whose eyes were shining with hope.

"Well," Erza said, "The wizard nicknamed 'Salamander' with powerful fire magic has been appearing in various places in Fiore over the last few months. Every time we heard rumors only after his appearance, but this time he's announced it ahead of time."

"I can't wait to see him!" Lisanna's eyes were still sparkling.

"I can't wait to beat the shit out of him and show him how strong I've become," Gray said with a smirk. "I bet he was just sitting on his ass these last 3 years doing nothing."

Erza didn't say anything. Neither she nor Mirajane were permitted to speak of what they saw to anyone outside of the team that went to Alvarez and the master. However, she felt pretty certain Gray was wrong. If Natsu was training under the monster that chased them off, he was probably more than a match for her now.

The train stopped at Hargeon, and the group nearly trampled the other passengers getting off. They rushed through the streets, looking for the place where the famed 'Salamander' was to appear.

"It's Salamander-sama!" Erza looked to see two girls running by, and quickly took off after them, the rest of the team following. They rounded a bend to see a tall figure standing, surrounded by a crowd of girls.

"Natsu!" Erza called out, running toward him.

"Huh?" The man turned, and she quickly realized her mistake. Salamander wasn't Natsu after all. Then…

"I'm sorry… Guess we thought you were someone else," she said dejectedly as she turned away.

They hadn't gone far when a blonde girl ran up after them. "Thanks for saving me!" She said

"Saving you?" Erza asked, a little weirded out.

"Yeah. That guy was using charm magic, but for some reason when you burst in like that it broke its hold on me," the blonde explained.

"Oh, I see." Erza nodded. "It was nothing."

"Let me at least treat you to lunch," the girl said. Then her eyes widened as she looked at Erza's companions. "Say, aren't you Mirajane of Fairy Tail?!" Her voice started to resemble a high-pitched squeal.

"Why yes, as a matter of fact," Mira smirked at her.

"Oh, I've read all about Fairy Tail in Sorcerer Magazine!" The blonde said, excited. "You guys are like, the best guild ever! And Mirajane! To think I'd actually meet Mirajane! Oh, I'm so rude. My name's Lucy, and please, please, please let me take you to lunch!"

"Thanks for the offer, but—"

Erza was cut off when she suddenly felt an intense increase in the temperature and a flare of magic power such as she'd never felt before. An explosion echoed through the town, and suddenly a body went flying past them and collided with the wall behind her. Erza turned to look and saw none other than Salamander. There were scorch marks on his face and clothes, and he seemed to be knocked out instantly from whatever attack he just endured.

"Fire magic?" Mirajane said next to her, turning toward the square they'd just departed. Her mouth fell open as she stared in that direction

Erza turned, following her gaze. A huge fire burned in the square where Salamander had just recently been standing. But in the middle of it, she could swear, just for a moment, she saw a shock of pink hair and a white scarf. But then the fire shot up into the sky and disappeared, leaving no trace it was there to begin with.

"N-Natsu?" The word escaped her before she could stop it.

"No, it was someone else, remember? Geez, Erza." Gray said.

But Erza could see from Mira's face that she'd seen the same thing. Natsu was there, if only for a few minutes. And he'd apparently learned some sort of teleportation magic.

"Umm, who is Natsu?" Lucy asked. "And are we going to do anything about this?" She pointed to Salamander, who was still knocked out on the ground.

"We'll turn him in to the rune guards," Lisanna said. "He's wanted in connection with slave trading according to the posters."

"Ok. But who is Natsu? Is he in Fairy Tail?"

"None of your business bitch," Mirajane said with a smirk.

Erza shot her a glare, then looked at Lucy. "I'll explain it to you over lunch…"

 **~~~~~~The Shores of Alvarez~~~~~~**

Natsu stood on the shoreline, looking back in the direction he'd just come from.

"Perhaps my time will come soon," he said quietly, still able to see the shocked faces through the flames that were taking him back to his home. Then he turned his attention to the mansion. His current task was still here, and she was coming out of the mansion to begin training now.

* * *

So there we go. I thought I'd leave a little mystery in this chapter so you have something to look forward to next time. Drop a review. :D


	5. Chapter 5

****DISCLAIMER** Fairy Tail belongs to Mashima, not me!**DISCLAIMER****

So, I've noticed a couple complaints about Irene's character. Irene is the way she is because part of the point of this fic is to keep her character (initially) similar to the series. Alongside that, you should be aware that her character will not instantly change to a lovey-dovey kindhearted woman. Change takes time, as well as a good catalyst.

With that said, here's the next chapter. And yes, I did intentionally not reveal whether Wendy was dead or not. You'll just have to read to find out. :D

* * *

 **~~~~~~Tower of Heaven, x784~~~~~~**

"Jellal, what is the meaning of this?!" Erza looked from the man she had just been hugging to his look-alike on the magic council, her mind racing. A few minutes ago it seemed as though the old Jellal was back! But now he was in league with Siegrain?

"Well you see, I kind of lied to you when I saw you earlier. Siegrain isn't my twin…"

"Not your twin?..." She didn't understand. Siegrain was just a doppelganger who happened to be a powerful wizard as well? And what did that have to do with his sudden change of attitude? Her confusion mounted as the two began to merge into one, but even as he began speaking understanding washed over her.

"Siegrain was nothing but a thought projection," Jellal said, the two faces smirking as they slowly became one. "But a large portion of my magic power was required to keep the illusion up. Now everything is back to the way it should be, and you don't stand a chance. You see, my work at the council is done. I just had to convince them to fire Etherion, and now it's coming."

Erza found herself confused once again. He _wanted_ the council to destroy the tower? "You spent all these years building this, and you just convinced the council to destroy it?!"

"You still don't understand, do you Erza?" Jellal grinned maniacally at her. "A system like this requires a tremendous amount of magic power to operate. There was only one way to get this kind of magic power. Etherion is nothing but raw magic power, which means all I need is to get my sacrifice prepared before the council fires."

"Erza!" Erza turned to see Simon running up. Apparently he'd made it past the last of the obstacles in his way. "You can't beat him by yourself! We should go!"

"You think I'm going to let my sacrifice leave?" Jellal asked, his face twisting into a snarl. "I'll just have to take care of both of you right now!"

"Dark Moment!" The area around them instantly became pitch black, and Erza was unable to see. Dropping into a combat crouch, she focused her other senses. Her ears were picking up the sounds of explosions from the direction Jellal had been standing.

With nothing more to go on, she was hesitant to join the fight. In the darkness she could just as easily hit Simon as Jellal if she were to attack. However, she couldn't very well wait it out either, knowing that Simon was out of his league against Jellal.

"Simon! I need to be able to see so we can fight him together!"

Almost the instant the words were out of her mouth the darkness dissipated. Jellal's back was to her, and he was standing over Simon who lay on the ground. Erza couldn't make out any visible injuries on the blue-haired mage.

Simon, on the other hand, hadn't made out very well in their fight thus far. There were several bruises and open cuts visible along his torso. He was breathing hard, and as Erza rushed forward to strike at Jellal he was pushing himself slowly to his knees.

Just when she was certain her attack was going to connect, Jellal turned with inhuman speed and stepped to the side, further deflecting her blade with a hand.

"He's using 'Meteor'," Simon said as he rose to his feet. "It makes him extremely fast, so watch out."

Erza grunted as she unsuccessfully attempted to dodge Jellal's ensuing attack, her dodge only weakening the blow. She could already see this was going to be a tough fight. She couldn't help smirking a little, however, as she requipped.

"Speed isn't that great an advantage against me," she said as the familiar feel of her Flight Armor surrounded her. The familiar heightening of her body and senses rushed through her, and suddenly Jellal didn't seem all that fast anymore. Rather, Simon, who was currently barely deflecting another blow aimed at his torso, seemed very slow.

"I suppose I should expect as much from Erza," Jellal said with a smirk of his own. "But it wouldn't be fun otherwise, would it? Let's see what you can do against me."

Erza rushed forward, her sword slashing out across his torso. Before he had completed turning around, she pivoted and was coming back at him. Her second strike was deflected, but she turned back quickly to come in for another. This time it appeared he finally realized the extent of her new speed, because he was able to fully counter, and she was forced to leap back to avoid an explosion of white energy.

Then it was Jellal moving again as a black ball of energy exploded right where he'd been standing. Erza used the distraction to move in again, striking him hard in the chest before he had time to fully recover. Still not letting up, she slashed at his shoulder. He twisted and sidestepped, but couldn't fully avoid the hit. But even as he was moving back, a light-encased fist darted at her from the right and she had to dodge back again.

This time it was Jellal who didn't give up the advantage. Erza found herself backing in circles around the large platform they were on, unable to get her sword through the flurry of attacks Jellal was casting her way. Sure, he couldn't hit her with any of them, but at best she was now at a stalemate. She glanced over at Simon, who seemed as though he was waiting for a good opportunity to join, but was unable to keep up with their speed. Still, small explosions behind Jellal every so often offered a welcome breather.

She didn't know how long they'd been fighting like this when Jellal's smirk suddenly grew. "Well, as much fun as this has been Erza, it's time to end it. Etherion will reach this tower at any moment, and I can't have it hit without my sacrifice in place. Altairis!"

She jumped back at the suddenly produced ball of black energy, but the explosion still flung her across the platform to a crystal. Jellal started toward her, smacking away an attack by Simon as he approached.

Then he frowned, looking up toward the sky. "Something's wrong. I should be able to feel the magic from Etherion by now…"

Erza took advantage of the momentary distraction to leap forward with a powerful thrust. It caught Jellal full on as he looked down, and the wizard was thrown backward several feet across the tower. Then he rose, the first signs of real damage on his body as his face twisted back into a glare.

"It appears the council didn't have the balls to fire after all," he snarled. "Now that pisses me off."

Another dark blast erupted in front of him, but he simply powered through it. "Toying with you has ceased to be fun." He said, and Erza saw from his gaze that the words were directed at Simon. "Die. Altairis!"

Erza watched in horror, unable to move fast enough as the huge ball of black energy rocketed toward Simon. She knew the other wizard was not fast enough to escape the blast.

 **~~~~~~Several Minutes Earlier, at the council~~~~~~**

"STOP THE PROCESS THIS INSTANT!"

The council members all looked up, startled at the new voice. Siegrain, the one who initiated the vote to fire Etherion, had just left as they started the procedure to fire.

"Who are you to tell us that?" The council head asked when they saw who was addressing them. Before them stood a young girl, no older than 12, in a blue and green dress. Her hair was blue with streaks of white running through it, and there was a white cat with wings flying behind her in the air.

"What you are about to do will take innocent lives!" She said, her voice strong and passionate for one her age. "You need to stop the firing before it's too late."

"If we don't fire, the resurrection of Zeref will succeed. Then many more lives will be lost."

There was a look of desperation in the girl's eyes as she spoke again. "Look, you wanted to know who I am. I'll tell you as soon as you stop the Etherion cannon. Believe me when I say the situation is being taken care of."

"By who? Are we supposed to just believe that someone powerful enough to take on Jellal is at the tower right now?"

To the council chair's surprise, the girl's expression then changed from one of desperation to resignation. "Fine. I tried to convince you the easy way, but there's no time. Poison Dragon's Roar!"

Before they had enough time to react, the two council members nearest the girl were engulfed in a cloud of poison. The girl then turned her attention back to them.

"I can heal them, but you have 10 seconds to decide whether they live or not. Deactivate Etherion now or they die."

"We can have you imprisoned for life girl!" The councilman said, glaring at the runt.

"Not if you want to avoid war with Alvarez," the girl replied. "And you have 3 seconds left."

Angrily, the councilman disengaged the etherion cannon. There wasn't much else he could do. He then watched, surprised, as the girl knelt by the victims, who were now struggling to breathe. Her hands began to glow as she applied them gently to the victims' chests. Immediately their breathing became normal again, and they sank to the floor, their bodies exhausted from the effects of the poison.

"If you're from Alvarez, what business do you have in Fiore?!" The chairman asked, turning to the girl. "You still have to explain yourself."

"I don't have to," the girl replied, "since we made a new deal, but I'll tell you anyway. My name is Wendy Marvell, and though my Lady may not be known for her kindness to me, she would not take it well if I were to be imprisoned here. Nor would my brother. And believe me when I say you don't want a war with Alvarez."

The chairman scowled at her. "Who is your lady, that we should be afraid of her? And what of this person who's handling things at the tower?"

"On the first point, I decline to answer. On the second," here a small smile crept over her face. "That would be my brother."

"You believe your brother can take on a wizard saint?" The chairman was astounded. What arrogance! Did Alvarez truly believe they were that powerful?

"I know without a doubt he can," she said with a soft smile. "But that's the last answer you're getting today. I wouldn't suggest following unless you want to try some of my poison. Poison Dragon's deathly cloud!" With that a large wall of purple haze separated them from the girl and her cat. None of them dared approach it till it vanished a whole 20 minutes later.

 **~~~~~~The R System~~~~~~**

Jellal's attack was almost on Simon when a stream of brick-red fire shot up from below them, hitting the ball of dark energy and causing it to explode on impact. The explosion knocked Simon back several feet, and Erza ran to check on him.

"What's this?" Jellal scowled. "More uninvited guests?"

Erza felt the air around her growing warmer as she checked Simon's pulse, then his breath. He was still breathing, but apparently the force was enough to knock him out. She breathed a sigh of relief as she turned to see the newcomer.

What she saw practically made her heart stop. The figure that was approaching Jellal was wreathed in flames, dancing orange and crimson around his body. He wore a pair of dark red pants with legs that billowed out away from his legs, presumably to allow for easy movement. A black coat, its collar rising up to obscure the lower half of the face from where she was standing, opened in the front to reveal a skin-tight royal red shirt, which also had a collar that stopped right under his chin. The shirt was lined with a silver trim, while the buttons and other accessories on the coat were gold. Atop the whole ensemble stood a remarkable shock of pink hair that the knight could have recognized anywhere.

"N-Natsu?" She stuttered.

He barely spared her a glance, his focus solely on Jellal. The latter appeared to be sizing up the newest arrival, as he hadn't yet moved from his spot. Finally a smirk appeared on his lips, and he began to laugh mirthlessly.

"I don't care how many fools come thinking they'll take me on. I'll kill every last one of you for daring to interfere in my plans! ALTAIRIS!"

To her horror Natsu didn't even try to dodge. He just stood there as the attack came, but at the last instant his fire burned brighter around his body. The dark explosion hit, and for a moment the light disappeared. Erza watched, spellbound, her head fearing the worst even as her heart told her the dragon slayer had survived.

Moments later, her heart was proved correct as the explosion cleared, leaving Natsu unharmed in its wake. His eyes were nothing like Erza remembered them, though. The onyx orbs she'd looked into so often before he left Fairy Tail on that fateful day were a bright orange with crimson pupils. She could feel his magic power. It was at least as strong as Jellal's, but she could somehow sense that this was only a part of it. With his full power he must be equal to the top wizard saints!

Apparently Jellal sensed it too, because he took a step back. "Meteor!" Instantly a golden glow surrounded him and he took of, jetting away from the tower at hyper speeds.

"You should know meteors burn when they're in the atmosphere," Natsu commented darkly, and suddenly the golden glow that was departing the tower was engulfed in crimson flames. Erza couldn't help wincing as Jellal went wildly off course, crashing into the beach near the resort. The explosion that he made when he hit the ground was visible even from the top of the tower.

She turned back toward Natsu then, her lip trembling as she looked at the dragon slayer's cold eyes. He looked almost nothing like the Natsu she remembered in this moment, even as the fire faded slowly from his eyes, leaving them their more familiar onyx color. Scales disappeared from his face and claws from his hands.

"Did you kill him?" She asked quietly, not wanting to hear the answer she was certain was coming. Natsu may have been many things before, but a killer wasn't one of them.

The eyes that now turned on her were no longer cold and angry. Instead, there was a hint of sadness in them, but the warmth she remembered from years ago seemed to dominate the gaze.

"There is only one person whose blood will stain my hands. In the grand scheme of things, Jellal was but a small player."

Erza opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. She wasn't really sure where to begin, but she couldn't very well dispute Natsu's claim concerning Jellal's power. She'd seen the power of the woman that Natsu trained under. A power that even Gildarts seemed to fear fighting. Yet, even knowing that Natsu's experience with the world must have expanded well beyond hers, she couldn't accept the idea that he planned to kill anybody. Not the big-hearted, fun loving boy that left the guild all those years ago.

"Natsu, I don't know who it is you're trying to kill or what he's done, but I'm urging you to reconsider your intent. Killing someone is never the right answer."

She expected some kind of reaction. Most likely a passionate outburst detailing who this person that Natsu hated so much was and why he must die, or an outburst at her about how naive her point of view was. Instead, there was just one response.

"What I do with my life is none of your concern, Erza. However, I have some advice for you. Get your friend and get away from this tower. It's going to be destroyed in exactly 2 minutes. Goodbye."

With that he was gone. Not in a stream of fire like at Hargeon, but using the flames from his feet to propel himself out over the ocean and toward the resort. She watched him go, knowing she couldn't catch him. She wanted to chase after him. To call for him. But there was just no way. Besides that, she had Simon to attend to. The man was still badly injured, but still alive.

Taking Simon, she decided there was only one way that she could get enough distance between her and the tower in time. She requipped to her heaven's wheel armor, despite being incredibly low on magic power, and put as much distance between herself and the tower as she could in the air. The entire time she also made her way closer to the water to avoid having a long fall. Finally her exhaustion won out, and she was unable to hold the requip any longer. She and Simon hit the cold water together, just over 200 feet from the shore.

 **~~~~~~Natsu~~~~~~**

As soon as he reached the beach, Natsu deactivated his magic and headed swiftly toward Hargeon. He cut that closer than he would've liked. Another few seconds and the guy who was helping Erza fight would've died. A few minutes after that Erza most likely would've been gone as well.

Still, being able to return to Fiore when he felt it was needed was in itself a blessing. There was a time when he'd given up on seeing any of his old guild mates again, at least on friendly terms. Irene was not an easy mistress, and her loyalty to Alvarez was absolute.

But one fateful night had changed all that…

 **~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~**

"Mistress, please. You have to help Wendy! She's about to die!"

Irene stared at the sky maiden, her eyes not changing from their usual void expression. "Why should I save her? You know my feelings about her, and her progress is still underwhelming."

Natsu sighed, not wanting to do this but knowing it was the only way. Irene would not be persuaded by compassion. At this time she didn't know the meaning of the word.

"If you heal her, I'll promise anything you want."

"Anything?" Irene looked at him, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. He wondered what kind of promises she would come up with now.

Natsu just nodded. "Anything." He knew he could be getting himself into a lot of trouble. Of course, it wasn't like life could get much worse than it currently was, but if he could save Wendy and at least keep her happy it would all be worth it.

"Fine. I want you to promise me three things. First, that you will never betray me, and in proof of your promise you will bind yourself by your magic to never betray me. Second, that when my humanity is restored, you will take me as your wife and kill the emperor. I was once a queen, so it's only fitting that I should be a ruler again after all. And last, I want you to promise to never, ever pursue romantic relationships with Wendy, or any other woman for that matter."

Natsu looked at Wendy, whose face was currently contorted in pain as the poison continued to work on destroying her body. This was a lot to ask, and surely Irene recognized that. Maybe he could get some concessions in return.

"You're asking a lot of me," he said quietly. "In return, I also ask that you allow Wendy and I to execute missions in Fiore from time to time."

She looked at him for several long minutes, and Natsu began to fear she would call his bluff. After all, she could turn down any counter other than saving Wendy's life and he would still agree. She probably knew it too.

Thankfully, she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "That sounds reasonable enough." With that she set off toward the house.

"Wait!" Natsu called after her. "Where are you going?! I thought you were going to save her!"

She turned back to him, her eyes cold. "You know better than to question me. I can do many things, but the poison will kill her unless I retrieve something from my home."

Natsu flinched, drawing back as he quickly looked toward the ground. "Forgive me for doubting you, my lady."

When Irene came back a few moments later, she had a small, purplish colored lacrima that seemed to throb with magic power. She pressed the lacrima against Wendy's skin, and slowly it pushed through and into the girl. Natsu watched the process, not daring to say a word.

"That was a very expensive Lacrima," Irene said as Natsu continued to watch her. "So I will expect both of you to be properly grateful. The lacrima is poison dragon slayer magic, and now that it is infused it will grant her body immunity to all poisons. The wizard who caused her injury uses magic from the same kind of lacrima, so the presence of his poison in her will actually help her body recover faster as well. Now, see to it that you don't forget your promise, and come with me. You will bind yourself through your magic to your promise never to betray me."

 **~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~**

After that, Irene taught both Natsu and Wendy a type of teleportation magic that could be used by creating personal teleportation runes. The downside of the magic was that it took the better part of a day, or night, to create the runes, and they had to be created in each location that the caster wanted to be able to access via teleportation. The upside was that once the runes were in place, they couldn't be erased except by the caster and weren't visible to anyone except for the caster. Additionally, teleportation was possible from anywhere in a 1 mile radius from the runes.

For this reason, Natsu and Wendy chose Hargeon as their teleport base in Fiore, with their teleport base in Alvarez, obviously, being Irene's estate. This was the only way they could enter and exit Fiore and complete any mission within the allotted time.

Natsu had also been able to use Irene's vast network of informants to learn of events that were taking place around Fairy Tail, which in turn allowed him to come to their aid if he felt it was necessary. Typically he could do it behind the scenes, without them even noticing. Like with the Lullaby incident. When he learned that Erza planned to stop the dark guild Eisenwald from using Zeref's demon, he beat her to the punch, destroyed the flute after it turned into an etherious to fight him, and of course refrained from revealing his identity while he was doing it, and was gone before Fairy Tail ever arrived.

This time he hadn't been so fortunate. He'd been late to learn of Jellal's plan to capture Erza and use her as a sacrifice in the tower of heaven. Because of that, he'd been forced to reveal his presence there. But he felt sure Erza wouldn't tell anyone about it. And, of course, the other wizard was knocked out before he could see anything.

From this point, the only thing he had left was to head back to the meeting spot and return to Alvarez with Wendy before the next morning.

 **~~~~~~~Irene, the next morning~~~~~~**

Irene yawned, stretching her arms out as the sunlight burst over her face, the beams pouring through her open window. What time had she fallen asleep last night? She felt really tired, as though she'd either been asleep for ages or hadn't slept quite enough to sate her body's needs. Maybe she should just enchant darkness over the room and try to sleep some more…

It took a few moments for her rational mind to catch up with her instinctual thoughts, but when it did she couldn't help letting out a gasp. She'd been asleep! For the first time in nearly 400 years, she'd slept in this body! Could it be?!

She looked down at her hands, urging them to transform into the clawed appendages of a dragon. But they wouldn't. She tried to go all out. To do a full body transformation. Still her body didn't change.

Still unable to fully believe her senses, she tried to access one of her dragon slayer spells. The magic wouldn't activate. Her dragon slayer spells were gone, leaving her with her high enchantment magic.

Her hand shook as she reached out for the meal she always had her servants bring in the morning. The smell of freshly cooked bacon assaulted her nose. She felt herself salivating in anticipation as her hand inched closer to her mouth.

The flavor assaulted her taste buds like light pouring into eyes that had seen nothing for hundreds of years. The crisp, smoky flavor of the meat permeated every part of her, the experience so new and fresh that her mind had no room to experience anything else in the present moment. She hardly dared chew, suddenly overcome by an irrational fear that this bit was a fantasy and when it was gone she could never have this experience again.

After what felt to her like an eternity she chewed the first bite, feeling the flavor permeate more of her mouth with each moment. When the food was finally chewed enough she swallowed, relishing the feeling of the bacon making its way to her no longer empty stomach. Then she bit off another piece, her fears waning as she experienced the exquisite flavor again. And so it continued. One bite. Several moments of chewing and basking in the glorious flavor of the meat. Another bite. Rinse and repeat.

As she finished her bacon, it occurred to Irene to be thankful that nobody was around to see this display. It could put a dent in her image, and might inspire all kinds of insubordination in her servants. Still, she couldn't help enjoying the experience. It had been 400 years since she was last able to truly enjoy the taste of anything, after all. Even strawberry cake!

Yes. She would definitely have a strawberry cake later. But first…

Irene reached her hand slowly under the nightgown she still insisted on sleeping in, and experimentally rubbed her right breast. She barely suppressed a moan of delight at the contact, and she felt her heart racing with ecstasy. She could feel pleasure again! After 400 years, she was really, truly alive!

 **~~~~~~A few minutes later, on the beach~~~~~~**

Wendy nearly tripped in her rush to get to the beach. She'd accidentally slept in after the previous night's activities and was going to be late if she didn't arrive soon! And she didn't want to risk Lady Irene's wrath!

Soon she was there, and Natsu was already waiting for her, a wide grin on his face as he anticipated their usual round of morning sparring.

"Sleep well Wendy?" He asked, the grin never leaving his face.

She nodded, feeling her cheeks redden a little in embarrassment. She didn't know how Natsu could get home after a long night like that and never seem to feel it. She'd barely managed to get the breakfast he'd laid out into her before stumbling out the door and to the beach. Yet he'd obviously been up early enough to prepare breakfast for all of them, and he still looked fresh as ever.

"Let's get started then," he said, and fire surrounded his fists. Wendy quickly moved into a defensive stance, activating her sky dragon slayer magic first.

"Shouldn't we wait for Irene?" She asked.

"She's on her way," Natsu replied, smirking slightly.

Wendy was confused. Irene's scent was pretty distinct, and she didn't smell her. Well, to be more precise, she didn't smell her exact scent. There was somebody approaching who smelled like Irene, but she was lacking the dragon scent that was always an integral part of Irene's presence.

Yet it was clearly Irene who showed herself coming down to the beach where they were about to start sparring. Pushing her confusion away for a moment, Wendy focused her attention back on Natsu, knowing his first attack was about to come.

To her surprise, Irene cut them off before Natsu could start. "Wendy, you'll be training alone today. Natsu, you're coming with me. Now."

Natsu deactivated his magic. Wendy could see the surprise on his face, but he wasn't about to talk back to their mistress. He quickly followed her back toward the mansion, leaving Wendy even more confused than before. She stared after them, her mouth half hanging open.

Irene seemed to notice this, as she turned back toward her. "I believe I said it's time to start training."

That jolted Wendy out of her trance and she quickly got back to her training routine. As usual, her routine required her to use quite a bit of magic power, and basically cancelled out any noise around her. But after the first hour she stopped for a break, and a blush instantly came to her face. Her sensitive ears were picking up moans that could only be coming from Irene all the way down at the beach.

 _That's odd… I know they've done that before, but she's never sounded like that…_ Though she now knew why Irene wanted her to train alone, this only added to her confusion about what was going on with the woman. She didn't dare ask Natsu about what was happening right now. But perhaps later she could ask about her scent. It didn't seem to surprise him the way it had her after all.

A sudden, loud, screaming moan jolted her back to reality. With a deep blush, she quickly returned to her training to block out the noises coming from the mansion. Yes. She would definitely be asking Natsu what was going on later.


	6. Chapter 6

****DISCLAIMER** I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters, they all belong to Mashima **DISCLAIMER****

Ok, so before I begin, just a couple things to mention.

First, a lot of people seem to feel like Natsu is cold toward Erza and Wendy is also rude and dismissive. It may seem that way. However, let's play the game that I play every time I write one of these chapters. It's called "pretend you're the character and think of how they might react."

So let's go with Natsu first. You've been living in what is honestly a horrible situation for the past 4 years, and only made contact with any of your guildmates for a few moments about a year ago. During that time, even though you've gained incredible strength, you've been cruelly beaten, even to the point of torture, been isolated with just a younger girl you've come to see as a sister and two flying cats, and essentially been dragged into a sexual relationship with a girl who you don't even think is capable of love. Because of extreme circumstances beyond your control, you made a promise to kill somebody. Now, you come into contact with someone from your past, and the first thing she does is lecture you about your plans to kill someone.

To be honest, in this situation, I think Natsu's reaction was the best Erza could've hoped for. Of course you're free to disagree, but at the end of the day this is my story :P

Now for Wendy. First, remember that you've lived in general isolation for a long time. Initially with a guild of old men who basically just created the guild for you anyway. Then with an older 'brother' who you at one point discovered is severely beaten every time _you_ fuck up. Now add to that the fact that you know your mistress doesn't like you and nothing you ever do will be good enough to please her. Then come to the council room knowing you're pressed for time only to have them sit and argue with you when your part of this mission will fail in 10 seconds if you don't act fast.

Again, I think in that situation with that kind of life experience, one might come off as a little 'rude' and 'dismissive.'

But, all that said, on to the next chapter!

* * *

 **~~~~~~Fairy Tail, Tenroujima Island, x784 S Class exams~~~~~~**

Zeref leaned back against a tree, looking over the rather rowdy group below him. So this was the guild that Mavis started all those years ago. It certainly had grown to quite a lively guild.

How long had it been, anyway? How long did he remain sequestered here on Tenroujima? Time meant little to him. The passing of seasons were like days. The cycles of the moon mocked him, reminding him that his curse would never allow him to move on to the next world. The plant life blackened around him, reminding him why he couldn't have contact with people.

So he waited, here on this 'sacred' island. He waited for the time when his greatest creation should emerge from the time gate and grow powerful enough to put an end to it all. The only being with enough power to free him from his curse. E.N.D.

But time had a way of slipping by. How many times had the bright sun risen on him here? How often had the moon stared silently down on his slumber? Such things were meaningless, forever meaningless.

Now he wished he'd attached a little more meaning to the passing of seasons. With no date to reference, he had no idea when his brother would be returning to the world. Perhaps the gate had already been opened while he 'slept' here on the secluded island. Perhaps it was time to step out and guide his brother, the greatest demon from his books, to his destiny.

He was so caught up in thought that he almost didn't notice someone teleport up behind him. Almost. But even when distracted, he was able to turn easily to see the person. He frowned. Something was off with the man in front of him, and it had nothing to do with the scar on his face.

"Who are you, and what are you doing on this island?" The man demanded of him.

Zeref took note of the way the question was asked. Even though this man was, presumably, a candidate for S class in the guild, he carried himself and asked his questions in a manner that suggested he was used to a position of authority. That didn't add up with his current position in the guild. It would be easy to obliterate the man, but he was not ready to resume his life of violence just yet. He would wait a few more years for Natsu to return, if needed.

"I could ask the same of you," he responded, locking his eyes onto the person in question. "Your manner doesn't fit with a simple A class mage of Fairy Tail."

The man paused, his eyes shifting to the left ever so slightly for several long moments. No doubt he was debating whether to protest Zeref's assumptions or not. Finally he seemed to come to his decision, and stood taller, as though trying to project an imposing figure.

"I'm Mest Gryder of the magic council. I was ordered to infiltrate Fairy Tail to find out if there is anything untoward going on in the guild."

"The magic council investigating Mavis's guild?" That came as a surprise to Zeref. While he hadn't exactly kept up with events of the world, he knew enough about the guild that Mavis established to know that anyone she entrusted it to wouldn't do anything to warrant such an investigation.

"Mavis's guild?" Zeref realized his mistake as soon as suspicion surfaced in the young man's gaze. Had it really been that long since the first master's 'death'? "Why would a stranger refer to Fairy Tail by the name of its first master?"

Even as he was asking the question that Zeref already saw coming, his mind settled on a plan. He wanted to know what was happening with Natsu. Maybe this man would know if the gate had been opened. A small smile crossed his mind at the thought. If Natsu had come through the gate, it was almost certain he'd make a name for himself.

"Perhaps an exchange of information is in order," Zeref said. "You see, I've been isolated on this island for many years, and there is much I would like to know about the world. If you agree, I will answer your question, and in turn you will answer mine. Of course, we would use a truth field to see if the other is lying."

Mest thought this over for a few minutes before nodding his head. "I will agree. However, you haven't told me your name yet."

"Spriggan," Zeref replied, watching the man's face closely. The widening of his eyes showed him that he knew the name. Yet, to his credit, he gave no other sign. He then implemented the truth field before continuing. "To answer your question, I have no knowledge of Fairy Tail personally, but the first master, Mavis Vermillion, has always fascinated me. Because of that I refer to Fairy Tail as Mavis's guild."

"Now it's your turn. I'm very interested in a boy named Natsu Dragneel. Is the name familiar to you?"

A tightening of the jaw told him that the man didn't like this question, which could only mean that he knew of Natsu and that what he knew wasn't good. "I am familiar with the name. Now tell me how you came to know of this island. Even I didn't know how to find it, which is why I came here with Fairy Tail."

Zeref pondered this for a moment. How to answer this without lying, which would be easily detected, but sate the curiosity of the council member was a conundrum. Finally he decided he would just end the game after his next question.

"I learned the location from Mavis Vermillion. Now, what do you know about Natsu Dragneel's current location?"

"What do you mean you learned it from Mavis?" Mest demanded.

"Uh-uh," Zeref said. "Answer my question first."

"The answer is simple. We don't know where Natsu Dragneel is. He disappeared several years ago, as did Wendy Marvell and Gajeel Redfox."

Zeref frowned, recognizing the names. Those were 3 of the 5 dragon slayers that he personally arranged to have sent to the future. But what of Rogue Cheney and Sting Eucliffe? Why would only 3 dragon slayers go missing?

"Now my question. What do you mean that you learned it from Mavis?"

"Exactly what I said. Mavis gave me the location of this island."

"That's impossible. You're far too young to have known Mavis personally."

Zeref just shrugged the comment off. "If I were lying, you would know immediately. Now for my next question. Leaving no details out, tell me everything you know about the circumstances that caused Natsu Dragneel and the others to disappear."

Mest grimaced, and Zeref felt his frown hardening. After several moments of silence the man spoke again. "There was a bounty put out for the deaths of some people, and Natsu was one of them."

The field glowed yellow, and Zeref narrowed his eyes. "You haven't satisfied the conditions of the field," he said. "That means you know more than you're telling me about this bounty."

Mest frowned. It seemed he really didn't want to reveal this information, but that only made Zeref determined that he would get it. If he was hiding something pertaining to Natsu, he would regret it. Finally the man spoke.

"The council put out a bounty on 5 people, which were all the first generation dragon slayers. We were only told that the bounty was meant to eliminate a demon from the books of Zeref. Nothing else. Two of the dragon slayers were killed. The other three, including Natsu, disappeared. The council does not currently know their whereabouts."

This time there was no response from the truth field. Zeref knew that his question had been satisfied, but now he had a lot more to ask. He felt anger building inside of him even as Mest asked his next question.

"Tell me exactly why you're so interested in Natsu Dragneel."

"Actually," Zeref said, eliminating the truth field, "I'm putting an end to this game here and now." He then activated some of his dark magic, causing the blood to start boiling just under the skin of Mest's temple, while also putting an aura of silence around the area so nobody outside could hear as he screamed. "Now tell me, who in the council would know why this bounty was placed?"

"I'm not about to tell you," Mest said defiantly through the pain.

Zeref cracked his knuckles. Apparently he was out of practice extracting information from people. Well, not for much longer.

 **~~~~~~Time Skip, Several Minutes Later~~~~~~**

"Alright, we're going to try this one more time." Mest was on his hands and knees, barely able to hold himself up. His throat was hoarse, his breathing ragged, and his eyes broken. Zeref smirked darkly at this easily recognizable state. Getting the information he wanted would be easy now. "Who in the council would know why this bounty was put out?"

"The chairman is the only one who seemed to know. He didn't tell the rest of us anything except that he had reliable information that one of the dragon slayers was E.N.D., the most powerful demon from the books of Zeref."

"How old was Natsu when he disappeared?"

"I don't know exactly. He looked around 12 or 13."

"Were there any clues as to where Natsu may have gone?"

"A team from Fairy Tail visited the Alvarez Empire a little over a year ago. The council suspected they may have had information about Natsu, but we haven't been able to confirm. The team came back without him."

"Alvarez…" Zeref muttered, his head turning in the direction of his empire. "If Natsu made it there, would he have been destroyed?"

Then, directing his attention down to the pathetic man in front of him, he frowned again. "We'll see if your information is worth following. But let me tell you one thing now. If Natsu is dead, you, the council, and all of Fiore will pay for it with your lives."

With that he dropped the sound barrier and left the island immediately for Fiore. He would find this council chairman and get some answers out of him immediately.

Then, regardless of what answers he received, it would be time to return to his empire. Zeref was done 'sleeping.' The time for war was at hand.

 **~~~~~~Grimoire Heart Airship~~~~~~**

"How much longer till we get there?"

Ultear sighed as the ever-impatient Zancrow stared out over the empty blue expanse below them. Sometimes having to endure his voice made her wonder why she'd ever joined Grimoire Heart in the first place. "Can't you shut up even for a minute?" She asked, letting her irritation show in her voice.

"I just want to go obliterate some fucking fairies," the long-haired god slayer replied. "What's fucking wrong with that?"

"We'll get there in due time," Ultear snapped. Perhaps, if she was honest, her own anxiety to find Zeref was fueling her irritation even more. But it was almost as though Zancrow didn't even care about Zeref. He just wanted to get out there and fight.

Personally, she couldn't care less about the fairies. They were just people who were in the way. Their ultimate goal was Zeref.

"Fuck!" Zancrow paced the deck next to her. "Are we even sure we're going the right way?! It feels like we've been out here forever. When do I get to taste some Fairy blood?"

Before Ultear could respond, she noticed a fire coated projectile headed for their airship. Was there a fucking meteor coming for them?! Wait. Were there two? She could swear that behind the one, covered in fire, she could see a small blue projectile.

"What the fuck is that?!" Apparently Zancrow noticed as well. Ultear frowned. As the projectiles got closer she could make out not two, but four distinct shapes. The nearest one was coated in fire, but the others seemed to be flying of their own volition. The two larger ones were human, at least they appeared to be, while she couldn't quite make out the smaller ones yet other than that they were blue and white.

As the projectiles drew nearer, she caught a shock of spiky pink hair on top of one. She felt the blood drain from her face. Could this be the guy that interfered at the tower of heaven? If so, things were about to get ugly for Grimoire Heart, and fast. Especially if the other person was anywhere close to as powerful as he was. She'd watched him literally scare the piss out of Jellal and then knock the fleeing wizard out of the sky without hardly breaking a sweat.

"I need to talk to the master, now!" She quickly headed inside.

"What, you chicken to fight or something?" Zancrow called after her. "Fucking pussy-ass bitch!"

She gritted her teeth and ignored the taunt, heading into the pilothouse where Hades currently sat. He was currently holding some kind of discussion with Bluenote. Both mages looked up when Ultear burst in.

"What is it, Ultear?" Hades asked, his eyes seeming as though they were trying to bore holes in her.

"Master, there are enemies approaching this ship. Powerful enemies…"

She was cut short by a sudden impact, and she braced herself as she heard Zancrow's annoying voice.

"You guys must be pretty stupid to come barging in here like this. Don't you know who we are? We're fucking Grimoire Heart, bitches!"

"Really? Because you look like trash to me," the voice sent shivers down Ultear's spine. It didn't sound human, that voice. And it brought back memories of the eyes. Eyes that were terrifying enough when seen through Jellal's perspective.

"I'll fucking show you! Flame God's Bellow!"

Then came the familiar sound of his flames, followed by a half second of silence. Then.

"What the fuck?! That's not fucking possible! Who the fuck are you! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Silence. Then Rustyrose's voice was heard. "We'll obviously have to take them together, Kain."

"Fire Dragon King's Wing Attack."

"Sky Dragon's Talon!"

The sounds of bodies hitting the deck indicated the fight was already over. Then, before the mages inside could move to investigate further, the door blew open in a fiery explosion. Ultear's eyes were immediately drawn to the bright orange glowing eyes with crimson pupils. She shuddered, trying unsuccessfully to summon up some courage. The girl next to him didn't look much older than Meredy, yet her magic power was high as well. Behind them were two… cats? Except they were flying. Cats couldn't fly, could they? If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation Ultear would've laughed at the sight.

It was at that moment that Meredy decided to come up from belowdecks, probably to see what all the noise was about. The man's eyes turned toward her. She looked at him defiantly, readying her magic.

"Meredy, wait!" Ultear quickly rushed over to the child. "Go back down! He's too strong for you!"

"We can all beat him, can't we?" Meredy said, glaring at the intruder's pink hair. "He's got my signature hair color."

To Ultear's surprise, the intruder started laughing. It was several tense moments before the sound of his laughter died down. Then he smirked at Meredy.

"I like you kid, now get out of here before you get hurt."

"I'm going to fight!" She insisted.

"Ultear, take Meredy and get out of here," Hades ordered. He'd risen from his throne and was facing the intruder.

"Bluenote, finish him." She heard as she complied with the order, quickly taking Meredy out the door. She was ready to dive into the water if they needed to at a moment's notice.

She turned to see what was happening inside. Restricted in his ability to use gravity move because of the nature of the airship, Bluenote was focusing on creating large gravitational fields near the pink-haired man. It was only as she continued to think of him as the "pink-haired man" that she realized she still didn't know his name. All she knew was that he was apparently from Alvarez, so why did he show up here? Was he some kind of ally for Fairy Tail?

Inside she saw the clash continuing. Apparently, whoever he was, Bluenote wasn't quite as easy a takedown for him. The two went back and forth, fire and darkness colliding before a sudden attack sent the intruder flying against the wall.

Ultear dared to breathe again. Was it possible that this was the extent of the man's power? Could he be taken down by someone besides Hades after all?

When he stood, she instantly knew it wouldn't happen. It was as though his magic power doubled in an instant! Since that was impossible, she knew that meant he was hiding his magic power, only using what he deemed necessary for each fight. She heard the girl muttering enchantments, strengthening the man even more.

Moments later, Bluenote was on the deck, knocked unconscious by a single attack. Ultear started sweating again as Hades stood up, his eyes set hard as he looked at Bluenote sprawled out unceremoniously at his feet.

"Pathetic," he declared, then turned to the intruder. " But I suppose since he was our ace, you have earned the right to battle me. Now come, Natsu Dragneel."

Ultear jumped at the name. This was the dragon slayer who disappeared 4 years ago? Last she knew the council placed him in Alvarez, but other than that nothing was known about his location. Yet somehow he was now on par with master Hades?!

"Wendy," Natsu's voice came from inside the cabin. "Somewhere on this ship there is a power source that is bound to master Hades' magic power. I can sense it. Find it and weaken it, because without that our fight will be pointless."

Even from their place outside the pilot room, Ultear could see Hades' eyes widen. He turned toward the young female. "You're not going anywhere!" He shouted, and Ultear saw his signature chains come out, moving to bind Wendy in their grasp.

But Natsu was faster. With a fist he shattered the chains where they hit. "Go Wendy!" He said, turning toward Hades. The girl complied, running toward the door that led belowdecks.

"That's fine," Hades said, cracking his knuckles. "I'll just have to beat you before she finds it."

A smirk appeared on Natsu's face. "We'll just have to see about that."

 **~~~~~~Tenrou Island~~~~~~**

Erza sighed as she pushed aside another tree branch, making her way to a steep climb. With the second part of the trials underway, all S class were assigned to look for Mest, who had disappeared suddenly without a word to anyone. Since nobody had left the island, they knew he couldn't have gone back to the guild. But just where could the S class candidate have gone? It was unusual for Master Makarov to order a search for any wizard on the island, which meant the old man must be worried about something. Of course, he wasn't worried enough to cancel the exams… yet. But if if was important enough to have all the S class evaluators searching for the missing member, there was a good chance she should be worried too.

She thought about the candidates for S class this year. First was Mest. Though she could remember seeing him around the guild, any time she searched for specific memories concerning him she seemed to come up short. It seemed odd, but obviously the master was sure that his record warranted an opportunity to prove himself. Then there was Gray. There was no doubt the ice mage proved himself worthy of participating in this test, though his partnership with Loke was a little surprising. Cana. Well, Cana was Cana. Why she picked Lucy as her partner Erza would never know. It was probably a large part of the reason her team lost to Freed and Bickslow. Then of course there was Freed. She was hoping to see the green-haired mage finally step out from under Laxus's shadow. Simon… Well, he was certainly more than ready for the S class exams, and she felt confident that he was one of the top contenders this year. The last two she wasn't quite as sure about… Erik, formerly Cobra of the Oracion Seis, was brought in by Makarov in really bad condition. Porlyusica said that if Makarov had found him even a few minutes later, he would have been beyond her help. When he woke up, things started to get interesting…

 **~~~~~~Flashback, x783, One Week after Erza's Journey to Alvarez~~~~~~**

"Master, are you sure it was wise to bring a wizard belonging to one of the most powerful dark guilds into Fairy Tail?" Erza asked, looking at the red-haired mage who showed signs of waking.

"I was in a position to help him, and he would've died otherwise. It was the right thing to do, wise or not." Makarov said. "Besides, something tells me he won't hold much loyalty to that guild anymore."

Erza opened her mouth to retort, but stopped when she noticed Cobra's eyes were open. "Looks like he's awake," she simply said, turning toward him.

"How are you feeling, my boy?" Makarov asked, apparently unphased by Erza's misgivings.

"I can't hear you," Cobra said, and Erza couldn't help feeling as though his eyes looked dead. As though he'd lost the only thing he valued in the entire world. "I can't hear anything…" His voice was dejected. Monotone.

Makarov took out a notepad and a piece of paper and started writing. Erza looked over his shoulder, curious what he wanted to ask. She read, "What happened to you?"

"My guild master kicked me out. Said he didn't have any use for me now that I can't hear. I thought I was gonna' die."

More scribbling. Erza read, "how did you lose your hearing?"

Cobra's eyes became dark and distant. "That bastard took it from me. It was supposed to be a simple mission, but he took it from me. Everything that matters."

Makarov scribbled some more. Erza didn't get a chance to read it this time, but she could guess what the question was when Cobra answered.

"One of your former guild members. Used some kind of fire and destroyed something in my ears. Hurt like a bitch, and I haven't been able to hear anything since."

Erza felt her fists tighten at her sides, remembering her encounter with Natsu not that long ago. He was the only former member of Fairy Tail that could've inflicted these kind of injuries. She was disappointed in him. Sure, he was always a hothead, but this was just cruel!

"He did it because I followed my orders. Apparently he was very attached to Wendy Marvell."

Again, though she'd failed to look up to see what Makarov was asking the man, the context gave her enough clues. So he'd done something to Wendy, and Natsu did this to retaliate? Still, such revenge seemed a little extreme…

"I poisoned her of course, it was part of my mission."

Erza looked from Cobra to Makarov. Things were starting to make a little more sense now, though she still didn't think making him permanently deaf was justified. Perhaps…

"Master, can I ask some questions?" She said.

"Tell me what you want to ask first," Makarov replied.

Lowering her voice, Erza said, "I want to know what his mission was." After she spoke, Erza realized Cobra was deaf and felt a little foolish for nearly whispering the question.

Makarov thought about it for a moment before nodding. He scribbled on the pad again and held it up for Cobra to read.

Cobra chuckled darkly. "My master tasked us with destroying the Salamander and the Sky Maiden. Didn't tell us the Salamander was a monster. We were fortunate to have escaped with our lives." Then the smirk faded. "Well, maybe not so fortunate."

Erza saw Makarov's hand moving again, and leaned over to read what he was writing. The message read, "Is losing your hearing so bad that you want to die?"

Cobra closed his eyes, his voice returning to the monotone he'd first spoken to them in. "It was my prayer…"

 **~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~**

It took almost two weeks, but eventually Cobra agreed to join Fairy Tail and revealed his true name, Erik. Erza came to sympathize with him when she learned that he'd been a slave in the tower as a child. Though she didn't doubt his transformation, Erik never seemed to fully embrace the guild culture, typically preferring to be alone or in the company of Laxus, who surprisingly got along well with him.

But then there was Gajeel. He was even newer to the guild, and Erza, as well as the others, weren't entirely sure he should be there at all. Many were angry when his name was announced for the S class trials. They'd run into Gajeel in their battle against the Oracion Seis. He'd been defeated at the hands of Jura Neekis, but not before the iron dragon slayer brutally beat and mocked Erik, almost killed Lucy, and broke both of Simon's legs. He was one of the few enemies Erza would have been glad to consign to a council prison, but to her shock and disappointment, Makarov played his trump card to get the council to release him to Fairy Tail instead.

Of course, if Natsu were here he would be filling one of those spots. Erza sighed as she thought of the fire dragon slayer. It was obvious that he'd changed somewhat from the person she knew 4 years ago. Yet, he obviously cared enough about them to help out when he felt they needed it. She was beginning to wonder how many threats he'd taken care of that Fairy Tail never even knew of. She was pretty sure he was responsible for the mysterious defeat of the Oracion Seis leader's alternate destructive form. After Erza failed to beat Zero and was knocked out, she awoke to find him unconscious on the floor near her. No one else on her team was anywhere in the area, and nobody knew how it had happened.

Before that, there was the incident with Eisenwald. She'd heard they were planning something big, but when she traced them to a train station, she'd found all the members neatly tied up with a pile of ashes and a note explaining they had some grand scheme to kill all the guild masters. When they fought Phantom Lord, one of the element 4 had been tossed out into the group in what they later learned was supposed to be an ambush to get rid of Makarov.

But before her mind could dwell any further, she reached the top of the hill. She was on the side of a cliff that overlooked a large portion of the island, including the beach where they landed and the staging area for phase 2. There, in the midst of blackened grass, lay the missing guild member, Mest. There were odd discolorations in several parts of his body, and his face looked as though it were contorted in pain.

Grabbing a yellow flare, she quickly shot it off to let Makarov and the others know that she found Mest and there might be enemies nearby. Then she dropped to an alert crouch, looking around for any sign of the other person who must've been present.

 **~~~~~~Grimoire Heart Airship~~~~~~**

Hades groaned as he rose from the broken floor, consciousness returning to him. The first thing he tried to do was activate the lacrima that kept the ship in the air. He quickly discovered that had been destroyed. His airship was now a glorified flotation device. Great.

He still couldn't believe he'd been beaten by Natsu Dragneel. Whatever he was, he wasn't human. The man had a devil's eyes and a dragon's strength. It didn't help that his 'sister,' if that's what she really was, had no problem finding the Grimoire Heart either.

Suddenly he froze as he felt a familiar presence. A presence he hadn't felt since before the formation of Fairy Tail. A young looking man with black hair and onyx eyes stepped into what was left of the pilot house, his eyes searching the ship as though looking for something.

"Zeref," Hades couldn't believe his good fortune. Just when he thought all was lost, they'd achieved their goal against all odds. "You're awake!"

Zeref seemed to ignore him. "I sensed Natsu Dragneel's power on this ship. Where is he?"

Hades frowned. "Natsu left some time ago. But now you are here, lord Zeref. Please, we are yours to command."

Zeref turned to acknowledge him then. "I have no time for this. It seems my brother had something against you." He said simply, and before Hades could protest he found himself fading into the blackness of death.

Disappointed at not finding Natsu, Zeref decided to return to his original course of action. After all, he needed to find out who was responsible for the council's knowledge of E.N.D. and first generation dragon slayers. After that there would be plenty of time to find his brother and test his strength.

 **~~~~~~Tenrou Island~~~~~~**

"Who could've done this master?" Mirajane asked, her brows furrowed in anger. "I thought only Fairy Tail members could reach this island."

"So did I," muttered Makarov. "As for this, I suspect we will have to wait for Mest to tell us."

"Master!" Mirajane looked over to see Erza, who was staring down at the beach. "Look at this!"

Makarov moved over to Erza's position, and Mirajane followed curiously. It took her a few minutes, but then she saw it. A black haired woman and a pink haired girl were currently dragging themselves onto the beach. Though little could be made out from their current perspective, it appeared from their movements that they were exhausted. Not surprisingly, since there was no ship in sight. Makarov frowned, knitting his brows.

"Erza, get Gildarts and go to meet those two. Find out if they're friends or enemies. We'll regroup at the main camp."

Erza had barely left when Mest's eyes opened, and he looked around wildly. When he saw Makarov and Mirajane, the fear in his eyes diminished slightly.

"What happened?" Makarov asked Mest, looking hard at him.

"I was exploring the island when I came across a young looking man with black hair," Mest said after a few minutes of hesitation. "The man claimed to be Spriggan, but he asked a lot of questions about Natsu…"

Mirajane tensed. Somebody was after Natsu? And why did Makarov's jaw harden at the name Spriggan? Was there more going on than she knew?

"Master, who is Spriggan?" She asked.

Makarov turned to her, a deep frown sinking into his entire face. "Spriggan is the emperor of Alvarez. Other than that, little is known of him except that he's supposed to be insanely powerful. As to what interest he might have in Natsu, I confess I have no idea…"

Then he turned back to Mest, the frown still on his face. "Why didn't you use your magic to get away?"

"I couldn't. At first I didn't realize his power, and once I did, I tried to teleport out and was unable."

Mirajane glanced down toward the beach. Apparently the redheaded slut hadn't wasted any time in going to retrieve the new arrivals. She could see them now, and it didn't look like they were friendly. Oh well, she'd find out all about that when they got back to the camp.

"Alright," Makarov said. "I'll have more questions for you later. For now, let's get back to base camp and see what they can do for you till we can get you back to Porlyusica for a full evaluation."

With that they headed back down the hill, Makarov carrying Mest with his titan hands while Mirajane followed a short distance behind.

One thing was for sure. This was turning out to be the most interesting S class trial ever.

 **~~~~~~Alvarez Empire, Three Days Later~~~~~~**

When Irene woke up, Natsu was already up and out of the house. She groaned, stretching her long, aching legs out. Months after she was first able to feel again, she still couldn't get enough of the pleasurable feeling her body had all but forgotten. And it didn't hurt that Natsu's endurance was crazy either. Some nights, like last night, would leave her sore for the better part of the day. But of course she couldn't show that.

She had just thrown the covers off her naked body and started for the shower when she felt a presence in the room. She turned, gasping, to see the last person she expected. Zeref Dragneel, known to most of the 12 only as Emperor Spriggan.

"L-Lord Zeref!" She stammered, quickly covering up her naked body with her blanket.

"Hello Irene," his eyes were dangerous, his tone quiet. There was a sinister smirk on his face as he addressed her. "You've been quite busy in my absence, it seems."

"No more than usual, my lord." She said, composing herself as much as possible. "If you please, I would prefer that we have this conversation after I shower."

"Oh, I'd rather have this conversation right here and now." Zeref kept his gaze steadily on her eyes. "I was in such a rush to see you that I haven't even spoken to the other 12 yet."

"Not even Invel? He will be most disappointed. Perhaps your majesty should go see him first," Irene said, knowing the attempted diversion wouldn't work but wanting to give her some more time to collect her thoughts.

"Oh, I will visit Invel presently…" Zeref replied, his dark eyes never leaving her. "My current business is with you. It appears you have quite the… complicated relationship with my brother."

Fortunately, she had prepared herself for this. His being here could only mean that he'd discovered that she'd taken Natsu and Wendy in. "Yes, your majesty. I thought you would be pleased to find him here in your empire."

Zeref chuckled darkly. "Indeed I am. To be honest, I can barely restrain myself from testing his strength immediately. But it appears you are attempting to save me the trouble, isn't that right?"

"What do you mean?" Irene was rarely flustered, but she found herself to be so now. Could he have possibly found out about her plans to have Natsu assassinate him and make her the empress?

Zeref continued smirking, but he turned half away from her to look at the far wall. "I stood outside the room for much of the night last night," he said. "And while there was little that was actually worth hearing, I did hear quite a bit from the woman who would make herself empress. Isn't that right?"

Irene cursed herself mentally. After tasting beer again for the first time and then fucking till she could barely feel her legs, her tongue might've been a little loose that night. She'd forgotten how alcohol affected the system of a human. "So your majesty has come to kill me?" She asked bluntly, readying her magic.

"Oh no," Zeref replied, leaning in as the smirk darkened on his face. "You see, it was always my plan for my brother to return and put an end to my miserable existence. I just thought you should know, though, that when Natsu kills me, he'll also die. You know, just in case you were growing attached or something."

Irene felt fear tug at her heart. Natsu would die if he killed Zeref? How could that be true? Sure, she'd heard of his resurrection as an etherious, but did that mean he was also tied to Zeref's life force?

And what was with this fear anyway? With Natsu gone, she could be sole empress of Alvarez. There would be no emperor to whom she would have to publicly defer. All she had to do was get the marriage ceremony out of the way before Natsu killed Zeref, and she would become the heir. It was perfect! So why did she not want Natsu to die?

"Since you have trained my brother, I will expect him to perform the task within 7 days. Otherwise, I will come here and destroy you and him," Zeref said. "Now, there is someone else I must deal with."

With that he was gone, leaving Irene alone in her room to her suddenly conflicted desires. Here the path to empress was laid out for her. Marry Natsu within the week. Have him kill Zeref. Become Empress. Why should she care if he died?! He was just another man at the end of the day! And right now, he technically stood in her path to being empress. Not only that, the stakes were raised further. If he didn't kill his brother, she now stood to lose her life in the process!

Yet for all that, her conflicted heart could not commit to the course she'd chosen. For some reason she couldn't just send Natsu Dragneel to die. She couldn't! Perhaps restoring her humanity had also restored some of her capacity to have romantic feelings for another. And how absurd it was to be sure!

Well, she could at least schedule the wedding. It's not like _that_ would kill Natsu. Then, no matter what happened, as long as she stayed alive her path to empress would remain secure.

With that thought, Irene showered, then went to announce to her household, and her future husband, that tomorrow Irene Belserion would become Irene Dragneel.

* * *

So there it is... Yeah, I know I've updated this story 3 times in a row now, but I've kind of decided when I'm on a roll with a story to stick with it. That means (hopefully) that I'll go on a 3 or 4 chapter binge for a story till my inspiration starts to run dry and then move on to another story for a 3 or 4 chapter binge there.

Anyway, thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews.


	7. Chapter 7

****DISCLAIMER** Fairy Tail belongs to Mashima, not to me **DISCLAIMER****

Ok, so first of all, I haven't forgotten that Irene _was_ a dragon. For those that missed it, part of the storyline involved Natsu finding a way to make her human again, so she's now a high enchantress/dragon slayer (maybe on the dragon slayer part. I honestly haven't 100% decided if the 'human seed' should take away dragon abilities or not).

Thanks for all the reviews. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I'm trying to whittle away at the number of stories I'm updating concurrently. For that reason I've been pushing to finish some of my shorter stories first.

Anyway, here's Chapter 7. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

"I still can't believe the three 'strongest' mages in Fairy Tail couldn't bring one puny brat back with them."

Erza growled, staring up at the cocky lightning mage standing on the balcony of the second floor. He really pissed her off, always thinking he was better than everyone else just because he was one of the most powerful mages. He was also older than everyone else by at least 2 years.

"You couldn't have done anymore," she said with a scowl. "Or did you forget Gildarts was there?"

"Gildarts is a sniveling coward," the blonde mage stated arrogantly. "If I'd been there I would've smashed that red-headed cunt into the ground and dragged Natsu back here kicking and screaming if I had to."

"You would've what?"

Erza froze as a familiar voice sounded behind her. She turned her head a millimeter at a time, already feeling the magic power rolling off the newcomer that somehow entered the guild unnoticed. Her eyes confirmed her fears as they scanned the red-haired woman that now stood behind her, only a few feet inside the open doors. Her eyes were blazing as she stared up at the blonde-haired man on the second floor.

Erza leapt to her feet, ignoring the cold fingers of fear that threatened to freeze her body. At the same moment, Mirajane leapt into her peripheral vision, taking a battle-ready stance beside her. With some effort, Erza managed to summon a glare that communicated confidence.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice laced with venom. This person, no, this witch who stole their Natsu away from them, had no business coming to her guild. If she was here, nothing good could come of it.

"Stand down Erza, we're not here to fight." Erza felt her body freeze again in shock as she looked past the red-haired woman toward the familiar pink-haired head and onyx eyes behind her. The world stopped around her even as her heart began to race as though it would burst from her chest. This couldn't be real. She'd despaired of ever seeing him again, but there he was. Mere meters from her.

"Yes Erza, be a good girl and listen to your daddy."

That snapped her attention instantly back to the smirking redhead in front of her for an instant. In that last instant before her world faded away, she managed to articulate a single word that intelligently summed up the thousands of emotions and questions running through her mind at the moment…

"NAAAANNIIIII?!"

 **~~~~~~A few minutes later~~~~~~**

"Erza! Come on and snap out of it already!"

Her eyes blinked open at Mirajane's voice, and she slowly looked up at the white-haired barmaid hovering over her. She groaned, pushing herself to a sitting position.

"Mira, you're not going to believe the dream I just had. Natsu came back to the guild, and that red witch said he…" She trailed off as her eyes found a trio at the bar. A pink haired man in his late teens sat next to the red-headed witch in question, and on his other side was a smaller girl with long, blue hair. They seemed to be in earnest conversation with the master.

Growling, Erza got to her feet and marched up to the trio. "You've got some explaining to do!" She said. "Just what did you mean by that comment earlier."

"Just what I said," the woman replied placidly, not even turning to face her. "You see, whether you know it or not, I just happen to be your mother, which now makes Natsu your father."

"You're not making sense," Erza scowled, forgetting the fearful magic of the redhead.

"Well, perhaps I should explain…"

 **~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~**

"Lady Irene, I mean no disrespect, but why am I dressing up like this? Won't this tuxedo interfere with my training?"

"All will be made clear to you shortly. And we're going out to the village today instead of training."

"The village," Natsu blinked rapidly, trying to catch up to events. "But didn't we just stock up on food?"

"Fufufu. You know there's more in the village than just food, Natsu."

"Of-of course milady, but you've only ever brought me to carry baggage."

"All will be clear soon enough. Now, let's get going."

Natsu shrugged and followed her out the door. It was about a 10 minute walk to the village, and, as usual, everything was very quiet. Irene never had been much for small talk, and seemed even less so today.

But the day just kept getting weirder when Irene stopped, taking Natsu's arm and turning him toward the village temple. "Come," she said. "I have some business to attend to here."

Natsu followed her obediently inside, wondering what kind of business Lady Irene would have in such a place. Normally she seemed to despise priests, speaking of them as lowly beings who couldn't master magic without serving a god or goddess to acquire it. What was more puzzling was that when they came in, the village priest and two other people seemed to be waiting for them.

"Ah, Lady Irene. The preparations for the wedding are complete, as you requested."

"Wedding?" Natsu couldn't help asking, even if he were punished for the outburst later. Who was getting married? For that matter, who did Irene even care enough about to see get married. And why was she involved in the preparations?

"Oh, did I forget to tell you?" Crap. This was Irene's sweet voice came out only when he was in severe trouble or she was doing something mischievous. "We're getting married today, Natsu-kun."

Oh. That made sense. Of course she would come there for their wedding. It was only natural that she would also give instructions for the preparations. After all-

"WHAT?!" His thoughts derailed as the meaning her words finally caught up with his scrambling brain. He could feel his eyes widening, his mouth falling open before he could restrain it. For a moment, it seemed his whole body would go limp.

 **~~~~~~END FLASHBACK~~~~~~**

"Yeah, his face was epic." Irene said with a smirk. Oh, but I never properly introduced myself. My name is Irene _Dragneel_. She emphasized the Dragneel heavily.

"So you forced Natsu to marry you just like you forced him into your service," Erza said, seething. "That doesn't mean anything."

"Actually, Natsu doesn't seem to mind at all. He's been working hard to make you little brothers and sisters, haven't you Natsu?"

The way the back of Natsu's neck turned red told Erza everything she needed to know, but she still couldn't believe it. This witch didn't have feelings for anyone.

Then again, it was more than probably that Natsu himself didn't fully understand what was going on. If he was anything like the Natsu who left the guild, he was denser than a boulder when it came to that kind of stuff. He'd clearly been taken advantage of here.

"Back to the matter at hand." Erza was surprised to see Mavis, who had appeared toward the end of their stay on Tenroujima, sitting on the bar in front of the three. "I ask you again why you want our help. Is it really just for Natsu?"

"I owe Natsu a debt, and I feel this is the only way I can truly repay it." The woman answered, a sneer on her lips. "I really hate being in debt, you know."

"You know that Zeref will come for you when you fail to meet his appointed time, right?"

"Well, we have until then to figure out how Natsu can live through this," Irene said, shrugging her shoulders in an uncaring manner. "Zeref's bodyguards are mostly weak anyway. There's only one we need to worry about, and if it comes to it I'll handle him personally."

"Wait," Erza scowled. They were just moving on as though there were nothing wrong? "Are we just going to ignore the fact that this woman took advantage of Natsu and forced him into marriage? Are we just going to pretend she didn't make these two slaves for the past few years? We should be trying to take Natsu back from her, not helping her!"

Barely had the words escaped her lips when a terrible aura filled the guild hall. Like a poisoned, icy mist, it rendered her heart frozen and her body momentarily incapable of movement. Any further words she planned lodged in her throat, unable to proceed any further. She realized that her eyes were pointed at the floor, though she had no memory of looking down from the scarlet witch's face. She raised them a millimeter at a time, struggling against the force that somehow invisibly guided them downward. When they reached their destination, they were met by a gaze of cold fury that foreshadowed a thousand painful deaths.

"That," the words came out in a deathly hiss, seeping with venom at each syllable, "would be the last mistake you would ever make." In an instant Erza thought she saw Irene's arm move, but suddenly Natsu's hand was on her shoulder, and she turned the terrifying gaze on him.

"Natsu," her words were still cold, the aura still overpowering. Yet the tone changed almost imperceptibly as she addressed the dragon slayer. "This girl won't give up unless I teach her a lesson."

"Lady Irene," Natsu's response came quiet and calm. "Do you truly think that any person or force in Earthland could make me abandon my promise? She is a fool, and nothing more."

Erza's head whipped up despite the oppressive aura, her eyes focusing on Natsu. Her lips trembled as she desperately tried to hold back the dam that threatened to burst from her eyes, not wanting the guild to see such weakness. But more than that, not wanting Natsu and Irene to see it. At that moment Erza felt something she never experienced before. Something she couldn't even summon up for Jellal, or Zeref, or the tormentors who took them to the tower of heaven. She'd never known it before, this absolute despising of another human being… This almost terrifying sense that she would like nothing more than to see the witch grovel at her feet before she cut her into a thousand pieces… Yet, despite it being her first time, she knew what it was. She hated Irene. From the bottom of her heart, she despised and hated the red-haired witch that claimed to be her mother. By channeling her emotions into that hatred, she was able to fight back the hurt from Natsu's words moments ago.

"You are not my mother," she hissed, her eyes snapping back toward the witch at the bar. "And I will never allow you to have Natsu."

With those words, not waiting for a reply, Erza turned and headed out of the guild. She kept her figure tall, her stride regal. She couldn't for a moment let her guildmates see that she was on the verge of tears. That she felt utterly helpless and humiliated. That witch stole her guild mate. She changed him into somebody he was never meant to be, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She was no more than 100 meters from the guild when a gust of wind overtook her, and the blue-haired girl was suddenly standing in front of her. She glared down into her eyes, but the large brown orbs that met hers didn't reflect the anger Erza felt. Instead they were warm and, unless she was imagining it, a bit sorrowful.

"He did that to protect you, you know… All of you."

She knew immediately what the girl meant, but it did nothing to assuage her anger. What did it matter why he did it? The Natsu that left her wouldn't have dared call her a fool! Not only that, he would've been the first to try to get a former guild member back. And this blue-haired little girl… Who did she think she was anyway? Maybe she'd lived with Natsu the past few years, but Erza was in his life before her.

"Listen, what's your name?..."

"Wendy," the girl answered calmly.

"Wendy, I know you think you know Natsu, but that's not Natsu. The Natsu that left us was fun, cheerful, and had an indomitable spirit. That witch changed Natsu, and I can't forgive her for that."

The girl's voice was a little harder when she replied. "You're wrong. I met Natsu when he left your guild, and it's true that his outer character changed. He went through things you could only imagine. Of course that will change him. But his heart never changed."

Wendy paused for a minute, but before Erza could voice her protest the young girl continued. "I used to hate Lady Irene. I hated her because of what she did for Natsu. Because of the way that she treated Natsu… But Natsu never hated her. Instead, he slowly wormed his way into her trust, and now he's been slowly changing her. She doesn't realize it herself yet, but Lady Irene is a much different person than when we first met her. She actually cares deeply for Natsu, and her actions in the guild are only proof of that."

"I don't care about that," Erza snapped, the tears threatening to break again. "She stole Natsu. He ran away only a few years ago, but now he's forever beyond my reach!"

She instantly covered her mouth as the girl's eyes lit up with understanding. Her small head bowed as she looked at the ground. "I see. I can't say that I blame you for feeling that way, but I do hope you'll still work with us to save Natsu. As one of the strongest Fairy Tail has to offer, your assistance would be invaluable. Also, I'm sure you'll be able to move on someday."

"What would you know about it? You're just a child," Erza scowled.

"A child?" Erza thought she detected a hint of bitterness in Wendy's voice as she spoke, but if so it was soon gone. "No. Physically, perhaps, but after these last 4 years my mind is no longer that of a child. If anything, you're the child here."

Erza bit back her protest as she looked into her eyes - eyes that didn't belong on a girl that young. Wendy was right, but she wasn't ready to face that reality just yet. Instead, she just scoffed, brushed past the girl, and hurried back to Fairy Hills. Once in the privacy of her room she let her emotions out, her tears flooding her bedding in a torrential downpour.

 **~~~~~~Fairy Tail Guild Hall~~~~~~**

Natsu frowned as Wendy left the guild hall. He knew exactly what she was going to do, and he didn't really like it. After all, he had his reasons for acting like the bad guy here. It wasn't just about stilling Lady Irene's wrath. If his guildmates truly believed he'd changed this much, they would gladly let him go. It would be a lot smoother that way, and the only sacrifice would be their opinion of him.

Still, he couldn't do anything about it at the moment, because the whole guild hall felt, and smelled, like a ticking bomb. He could sense Irene's rage, and he knew with the atmosphere this tense the slightest thing could make her snap and start a war with Fairy Tail. This would, of course, completely defeat the purpose of coming here.

"Lady Irene, if I may," he spoke quietly, his hand still on her shoulder.

Her gaze turned on him, a cold look that was reminiscent of the years she spent 'training' him. Yet, just as quickly, she looked away again. Her posture wasn't any calmer, but she at least seemed to recognize the wisdom of allowing him to take over. She nodded, almost imperceptibly.

Natsu felt a hiss of air escape as he let go of the breath he'd been holding. "I apologize for that, but you can't fully blame Lady Irene for being angry. We came to you for help, and instead one of the members threatened to take something valuable from her. I hope we can put that behind us at least long enough to discuss this."

Mavis looked at him, her green eyes reflecting a keen intellect. He knew immediately that it would be unwise to attempt to deceive her, not that he planned on it anyway. He also knew she was the one they must convince if they hoped to have Fairy Tail assist them.

"How do you think we can help you fight Zeref?" Makarov asked, his voice calm and even. Natsu could sense that the old man hadn't let his guard down, however.

"We're not actually asking that you help us fight Zeref," he responded. "We want to figure out a way that I can defeat him without ending up dead."

"And why would you die if you defeated Zeref?" Makarov asked, his brow furrowed.

Glancing again at Mavis, Natsu explained his past. His memories having returned when he unsealed the power of E.N.D., he was able to tell them about Zeref in the past, about the dragon slayers training with their respective dragons. Eyes widened as he spoke of the Eclipse Gate, and the journey that took him 400 years into the future.

"So you're a demon, eh?" Gray scowled. "I always knew I didn't like you. Rather than helping, we should kill you right now."

"Gray," Mavis held up her hand. "To take any such action right now would be incredibly rash. None of them have made any move to harm us or justify aggression."

"She was ready to kill Erza," Gray objected. "And Natsu just said he was E.N.D. You do know that's the monster responsible for my parents' deaths, right?"

"Were you listening at all Gray?" Mavis asked. "Natsu wasn't around when your parents died. He came out of the Eclipse Gate in x777, and joined Fairy Tail almost immediately afterward. Your parents were already dead at that point."

She then turned toward Irene. "While her reaction was a bit extreme, it is also true that Erza threatened her." She then turned her focus back to Gray. "Besides that, even with everyone here, if it came to a battle against these three we would almost certainly lose."

"Yeah right," Gray said with a frown. "Laxus alone could wipe the floor with all of them."

Natsu laughed internally at the statement. Before he left he might've started a brawl right then and there, but now the idea of even fighting the ice wizard seemed boring. He could sense his magic power, and it wasn't even on par with Wendy's, let alone his or Irene's. Even Laxus, who he'd once considered insanely strong, didn't begin to approach Irene's power, and with E.N.D.'s power unlocked he'd surpassed Irene in terms of raw magic power, at least. Wendy was, at the very least, close to Laxus, if not equal to him. In fact, with her poison dragon slayer abilities from the lacrima, she could probably beat the lightning mage handily, despite the fact that he could now sense dragon slayer magic in him.

That sparked an idea. "Why don't we put this to rest so we can get on with our discussions." He saw Wendy coming back in as he spoke. "Wendy is the weakest of us, so she will duel Laxus. If she loses, we'll leave without causing trouble and seek help elsewhere. If she wins, Fairy Tail must agree to help us."

Irene turned to him, a glare in her eyes. Yet she didn't say anything, which Natsu was thankful for. He knew the first master would never agree to allow him to battle Laxus. She could sense magic power, so she would know Wendy's and Laxus' levels were about equal. Sure, it was a risk, but it was one they would have to take if they weren't going to spend hours fighting people like Gray.

Makarov also looked to Mavis, his eyes asking the question of the first master. After a few minutes of thought, the girl nodded her head.

"I believe that is fair," she said. "But the duel must take place outside, of course."

"That goes without saying," Natsu said wryly. Of course they wouldn't hold a battle inside. There would be nothing left of the guild if they did that.

"You might want to think again," Laxus sneered from the second floor. "At least put someone who might have a chance against me."

"Wendy will be your opponent, as agreed," Natsu said. "If it seems reasonable to all parties, the match will begin immediately."

"I don't see why not," Makarov said after again glancing to Mavis for her approval.

As the group headed out of the guild, the betting board was set up as jewels were brought forward. This was still Fairy Tail, after all. Unsurprisingly, almost nobody bet on Wendy. They were all confident in their number 1 lightning mage.

Once they were there, it was agreed that Irene and Mavis would act as judges in the duel. The two took positions opposite each other, Laxus with an enormous smirk on his face while Wendy merely looked serious and composed. Mavis stepped forward into the ring to speak the official words. "Match start."

* * *

And that's a wrap. Next chapter: Wendy vs. Laxus. Who will win, and who from Fairy Tail actually bet on Wendy anyway?

Oh, and don't be afraid to drop a review. Reviews are like candy to writers... OM NOM NOM


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